
Class 


TK ^3 


Book 


,L-3 





THE SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY. 
GENERAL EDITOR PROFESSOR 
I. GOLLANCZ, LITT.D. 





O W 



o w 
3 z 






ROBERT LANEHAM'S LETTER: 
DESCRIBING A PART OF THE 

ENTERTAINMENT UNTO QUEEN 
ELIZABETH AT THE CASTLE OF 
KENILWORTH IN 1575: edited 

WITH INTRODUCTION BY F. J. FURNIVALL 




NEW YORK 

DUFFIELD & COMPANY 

LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS 

1907 



,L3 






CONTENTS. 



FOEEWOEDS. 

Cause of this edition, Captain Cox 
(p. ix). 

Sketch of Eobert Laneham (p. x). 

Captain COX and his list of books 
(p. xii). 

Two other Elizabethan lists of books 
(p. xiv). _ _ 

Contrast of Captain Cox's list of books 
with that in the Coniplaynt of Scot- 
land, ab. 1648 A.D. (p. xiv). 

Captain Cox's books described: — 



1. Stoey-Books. 



I. 

II. 
III. 
IV. 

V. 
VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 
XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 
XVI. 



XVII. 
XVIII. 

XIX. 
XX. 



King Arthurz book (p. 

xv). 
Hmou of Burdeaus (p. 

xvii) . 
The foour sons of Aymon 

(p. xix). 
Beuys of Hampton (p. 

xxii). 
The squyre of lo degree 

(p. xxiii). 
The knight of courtesy, 

and the Lady FagueU 

(p. xxiv). 
Frederik of Gene (p. 

xxv). 
Syr Eglamoour (p. 

xxviii). 
Sir Tryamoour (p. xxix). 
Sir Lamwell (p. xxx). 
Syr Isenbras (p. xxxiii). 
Syr Gawyn (p. xxxiv). 
Olyuer of the Castl (p. 

xxxvii, clxxvii). 
Lucres and Eurialus (p. 

xxxviii). 
Virgils life (p. xli). 
The castle of Ladiez (p. 

xliii. Perhaps Chi'istine 

de Pise's Cyte of Lady es, 

p. clxxvii). 
The wido Edyth (p. xliii). 
The King & the Tanner 

(p. xlvi). 
Frier Eous (p. xlvii). 
Howleglas (p. xlviii). 



XXI. Gargantua {not hiown, p. 

XXIT. Eobinhood (p. U). 

XXIII. Adambel, Clim of the 

clough, & William of 
cloudesley (p. liv). 

XXIV. The Churl & the Burd 

(p. Ivi). 
XXV. The seauen wise Masters 

(p. Ivii). 
XXVI. The wife lapt in a Mo- 
rels skin (p. Ixiv). 
XXVII. The sak fuU of nuez (p. 

Ixvi). 
XXVIII. The sergeaunt that be- 
came a Fryar (p. Ixvi). 
XXIX. Skogan (p. Ixvii). 

XXX. Collyn cloout (p. Ixix). 
XXXI. The Fryar & the boy (p. 
Ixxiii). 
XXXII. Elynor Eumming (p. 
Ixxv). 

XXXIII. Nutbrooun maid (p. 

Ixxvi). 

2. Philosophy and Poetry. 

XXXIV. Sheperdz kalender (p. 

Ixxviii) . 
XXXV. The Ship of Foolz (p. 
Ixxxv, clxxx ?). 
XXXVI. Danielz dreamz {no copy 
accessible, p. xcv). 
XXXVII. The booke of Fortune 
(not known, p. xcv). 
XXXVIII. 'Stans puer ad mensam' 
(p. xcix). 
XXXIX. The hy wey to the Spitl- 
house (p. ci). 
XL. lulian of Brainfords tes- 
tament (p. ciii. — Ee- 
printed, and sent to the 
Members of the Ballad 
Society in 1871.) 
XLI. The castle of Loue (p. 

cvi). 
XLII. The booget of Demaunds 

(p. cvii). 
XLIII. The hundred Mery talez 
(p. cviii). 



VI 



Contents. 



XLIV. The boob of Riddels (p. 

ex). 

XLV. The Seauen sororz of we- 

men (iVb^ known, p. cxiv). 

XLVI. The prooud wiues Pater 

noster (p. cxiv). 

XLVII. The Chapman of a peni- 

woorth of "Wit (p. cxvi) . 

3. Ancient Plays. 

XLVIII. Yooth & charitee (p. 
cxviii). 
XLIX. Hikskorner (p. cxix). 
L. Nugize (p. cxxii). 
LI. Impacient pouerty {Not 
known now, p. cxxiv). 

4. Medicine. 

LII. Doctor Boords hreuiary 
of health (p. cxxv). 

5. BALiiADS, p. cxxvi. 

LIII. Broom broom on hil (p. 

cxxviii). 
LIV. So wo (= well) iz me 
b egon, tr oly lo p . cxxix) . 
LV. Ouer a whinny Meg [Not 
known, p. cxxxi). 
LVI. Hey ding a ding (p. 
cxxxi) . 
LVII. Bony lass vpon a green. 
LVIII. My bony on gaue me a 
bek [Neither knoxon, p. 
cxxxi). 
LIX. By a bank az I lay (p. 
cxx-xi). 

6. Almanacks, by 

LX. lasper Laet of Antwarp 
(p. cxxxii). 
LXI. Nostradam of Frauns (p. 
cxxxv). 
LXII. John Securiz of Salsbury 
(p. cxxxvi). 

Reason for the sketch of Captain 
Cox's books (p. cxxxvii). 



The Complaynt of Scotland, ab. 1548-9 
A.D. (p. cxxxvii) 

Its List of 48 Books and short Tales 
(p. cxxxviii ; a sketch of ' Robert 
the Deuyll,' p. cxxxviii). 



Its List of 38 sweet Songs (p. cxlix.) 
with prints of 5 of them : — 
Pastyme with good companye (by 

Henry VIII) p. cxlix. 
Still under the levis grene, p. cl. 
CoUe to me the Rysshys grene 

(EngUsh) p. clii. 
lusty May, with Flora quene, p. 

cliv. 
Grevus ys my sorowe (English), p. 
clvi (and an extra English one, 
' This day day dawes,' p. clix). 
Its List of 30 Dances and Dance-tunes 

(p. clx). 
Robert Coplande's description of 
'Base Dances,' notes to p. clx- 
clxii. 
Ballads supprest in Scotland (p. 
clxvii). 



The two versions of the Ballad of 
Baloiv from Pinkerton's or Mr. 
David Lauig's 4to MS. (p. clxx). 



Conclusion (p. clxxiii). 

Postscript: Mr. Knowles on Eliza- 
beth's arrival at Kenilworth (p. 
clxxiv). 

Notes to Forewords (p. clxxvi). 

"The Cyte of Lady es" (p. clxxvii). 

" Come over the burne, Besse," a 
morahzed ballad (p. clxxxi). 



ILanefjam's ILctter, a.d. 1575. 

Kenilworth Castle described (p. 1). 

Its history, with that of Marchland 
or Mercia (p. 3). 

The Derivation of its Name (p. 4). 

Saturday, July 9. — Queen Elizabeth's 
arrival and reception (p. 5) 
the Porter and his Speech (p 
5) ; the Trumpeters (p. 6) 
the Lady of the Lake (p. 6) 
the fair Bridge (p. 8) ; the 
Seven Pairs of Posts, with Gifts 
of Gods and Goddesses (p. 8) ; 
the Inscription over the Castle- 
Gate (p. 10), and the Poet to 
read it (p. 10) ; the Guns and 
Fireworks (p. 12). 

Sunday, July 10. — Service at Church; 
Dancing; Fireworks (p. 12). 



Contents. 



Vll 



Monday, July 11. — The Hunting of 
the Hart (p. 13) ; the Savage 
Man, and Echo (p. 14) ; the 
Queen's horse frightened (p. 15). 

Tuesday, July 12. — Music and Danc- 
ing, Music on the water (p. 16). 

Wednesday, Jidy 13. — Hunting of the 
Hart again (p. 16). 

Thursday, July 14. — Bearhaiting (p. 
16) ; Gunshots and Fireworks 
(p. 18) ; Tumbling of an Italian 
acrobat (p. 18). 

Friday, July 15, and Saturday, July 
16.— Eest at home (p. 20"). 

Sunday, July 17. — Service (p. 20) ; 
a Country Bride-ale, with a pro- 
cession (p. 20-1), and the Bride- 
groom (p. 22) ; a Morris-dance 
(p. 22-3) ; three Bridesmaids (p. 
23) ; a Cupbearer (p. 23) ; the 
Bride (p. 24) ; Running at the 
Quintain (p. 24) ; Hock Tuesday 
by the Coventry men : accoimt 
of their Play (p. 26) ; Captain 
COX (p. 28) ; his Story-books, 
Ballads, and Almanacks, Books 
of Philosophy and Poetry (p. 29) ; 
his ale-judging and marching 
(p. 31) ; the Play— a fight be- 
tween English and Danes, the 
latter being led captive by En- 
glish women, only part acted (p. 
31) ; the Brideale and dancing 
not well attended (p. 32) ; an 
Ambrosial Banquet (p. 32). 

Monday, July 18.— The Third Hunt- 
ing of the Hart (p. 33) ; Triton 
on a swimming Mermaid, the 
freeing of the Lady of the Lake 
from Sir Bruse sauns pitee, and 
Arion's song (p. 33) ; five Gen- 
tlemen knighted, and nine Peo- 
ple cured of the King's Evil (p. 
36). 

Tuesday, July 19. — The Coventry 
Men's Play fully played (p. 36). 

Wednesday, July 20. — Supper at 
Wedgenall, and a Device of God- 
desses and Nymphs, counter- 
manded; weather bad; and the 
Queen stays at the Castle (p. 
36). 

The Ancient Minstrel, who was to 
have svmg to the Queen, but 
didn't (p. 36) ; the arms of Isling- 
ton on his breast (p. 38) ; his 



solemn song of King Arthur and 
King Ryens's challenge (p. 41). 

Wednesday, July 27.^The Queen's 
Departure (p. 43). 
■ Queen Elizabeth and the Sevens (p. 
43). 

The gifts of the Gods and Goddesses 
to the Queen (p. 43). 

The Fates stop work during her 
stay (p. 46). 

Queen Elizabeth's character (p. 47). 

The Earl of Leicester : his character 
(p. 48). 

His Castle of Kenilworth (p. 48). 

His Garden like Paradise (p. 48-53). 

His wondrous Bird-Cage (p. 50). 

His very fair Fountain (p. 52). 

(Digression on Onehood and Threes, 
but chiefly Twos (p. 53).) 

His two Dials always pointing to 
Two o'clock (p. 54). 

His Great Tent (p. 56). 

The big Wether, and big Child, 
shown to the Queen (p. 56). 

The Earl of Leicester, his liberality 
and fame (p. 56-7). 

His kindness to Robert Laneham 
(p. 57). 

How Laneham leads his life at Ke- 
nilworth (p. 58) ; up at 7, bread 
and ale for breakfast (p. 68) ; 
attends the Council, is down on 
priers, talks to foreigners, drives 
with Master Pinner; in after- 
noons and a-nights is with Sir 
George Howard, Lady Sidney, 
and the Gentlewomen, whenever 
he can, dancing, plajing (p. 59), 
singing, making eyes and sighs 
at lilistress (p. 60). 

Why Laneham is so bookish, or 
learned (p. 61). 

Laneham' s messages to his Friends 
(p. 61-2). 



Appendix. Report of Henry VIII' s 
Surveyors on KenUworth (p. 63). 

Notes, p. 66. 

Sir Philip Leycester's description 
of Musical Instruments in Eng- 
land in 1666, p. 65-8. 

A London Dinner in 1569, p. 69. 
Philip Stubbes on the abomination 
of rufes in 1583, p. 72-3. 

Index, p.' 77. 



Vlll^ 



PREFATORY NOTE TO THE EDITION OF 1907. 

This edition of Laneliam was originally issued for the 
Ballad Society in 1871, and the Introduction now, naturally 
enough, requires a few additions and corrections. Since it 
was written, several of the books or ballads mentioned have 
been edited or re-edited, and a few discoveries have been 
made. As the work is now reprinted from stereotype plates, 
it has been thought best to leave the Introduction as it 
originally stood and to call attention here to the chief 
points in which it requires supplementing. 

p. xxiii. The Squyre of Lo Degree. This has since been elaborately edited 
by Prof. W. E. Mead ('Albion Series,' Ginn & Co., Boston, 1904). It may 
be mentioned that The Squire is referred to in The Nidbroion Maid, 1. 260, 
which was in print c. 1502. 

p. li, ]. 13. Robin Hood. The printers of the imperfect copy, here stated 
to be Chepman and Myllar, are now considered doubtful, see Child, Eng. 
and Scot. Ballads, 1882-98. 

p. Ixv, 1. 11. The Wife Lapt in a Morels Shin, There is a ballad derived 
from this in Child (1882-98), V. 104, No. 277. 

p. Ixxvii, foot. The Nidhrooun Maid. The MS. is not at University 
College, but at Corpus, and is the day-book of John Dome, an Oxford book- 
seller. It was edited in 1885 by Mr. F. Madau for the Oxford Historical Society. 
See Early English Lyrics, ed. E. K. Cliambers and F. Sidgwick, 1907, p. 334. 

p. Ixxviii. The Shepherdz Kalender. The edition of Paris, 1503, has been 
reproduced in facsimile, with a reprint of Pynson's edition ef 1606 and an 
introduction and glossary, by Dr. H. Oscar Sommer, London, Kegan Paul 
& Co., 1892. 

p. Ixxxv. The Ship of Foolz. ' T. H. Jamiesou's edition, mentioned on 
p. clxxxi as in preparation, appeared in 1874. 

p. xcv. The Booke of Fortune. See a long letter by Mrs. 0. C. Stopes in 
the Athenxum of May 19, 1900, in which she shows that a work issued in 
1672 may well have been a reprint of the original 'boke of fortune in folio' 
entered to "W. Powell on Feb. 6, 1559-60 (cf. p. xcviii). The copy seen by 
Mrs. Stopes was imperfect, wanting both title-page and conclusion, and was 
identified by the running-title. It is a work in which Captain Cox would 
certainly have delighted, and consists of a large collection of brief rimes, 
many merely couplets, of the most varied character, as, for example, directions 



Prefatory Note to the Edition of 1907 viii** 

for the discovery of fortunate days, weather lore, proverbs, warnings of the 
uncertainty of life, moral reflections, etc., etc. The rimes are grouped under 
the headings of 'juries' of various sects of philosophers and others, as if 
intended to represent their ojdnions, though the classification seems in reality 
to have been entirely haphazard. The first five headings are ' The jury of the 
Academiks, Graces, Originists, Platonists, Sorbouists.' Two of the rimes 
quoted by Mrs. Slopes may be given as specimens : 



A mickle truth it is I tell 
Hereafter thou'st lead Apes in Hell : 
For she that will not when she may 
When she will, she shall have nay. 
XIII. 2. 



If Kite or magpye cross thy way 
Tuin back again, and do not stay ; 

Unless tway crows thou chance to see 
If so, gang on and happy be. 

LII. 9. 



The numerous extracts given in the letter make it clear that, though evidently 
revised after the accession of James I, the book originally belonged to a much 
earlier date. In a supplementary letter in the Athcnseum of Aug. 25, 1900, 
Mrs. Stopes discussed the relationship between the English book and the 
Triomfo di Fortuna of Sigismondo Fanti, 1527. 

p. cxviii. Yooth and Cliaritee. Waley's and Copland's texts are printed 
in full, together with a facsimile of the eight pages of the Lambeth Palace 
fragment, in an edition of the play in Professor Bang's ' Materialien zur Kunde 
des alteren Englischen Dramas,' 1905. 

p. cxix. Hikskomer. There were at least three editions of this : see Mr. 
W. W. Greg's List of Plays, Bibl. Soc, 1900. 

p. cxxv, 1. 5. Impacient Poverty. A copy of this play came to light in Ireland 
in 1905 and was sold on June 30, 1906, at Sotheby's. It was bought by the 
British Museum, where its press-mark is now C. 34. i. 26. It was reprinted 
by Mr. J. S. Farmer in his Recently recovered ' Lost ' Tudor Plays, and will also 
shortly be issued in Professor Bang's ' Materialien.' The title is : '* (J A Newe 
In/terlude of Impacyente pouerte / newlye Imprynted. / M. V. LX. [sio 
for 1560] / (J Foure men may well and ease/lye playe thys Interlude. / 
Peace and Coll hassarde and Co/scyence, for one man. / Haboundaunce and 
mysrule for / another man. / Impaciente pouerte, Prospery-/te, and pouerte, 
for one man. / Enuye and the sommer for ano/ther man." The colophon 
is " ^ Imprinted at London, in Paules / Ohurche yearde at the Sygne of/ the 
Swane by lohn Kynge./" 

p. cxxxi. Oucr a whinny, Meg. As evidence that this was still in 1589 
a well-known ballad, or tune, a mention of it in The Protestatyon of Martin 
Marprelat, printed in that year, sig. Dl', may be quoted. ' Nexte . . . 
followed a preamble to an Eblitaph vpon the death of olde Andrewe Turne- 
coate, to be song antiphonically in his graces Chappell, on wednesdayes and 
Frydayes, to the lamentable tune of Orawhynemeg. 

p. cxxxi. By a hank as I lay. Printed in Messrs. E. K. Chambers and 
F. Sidgwick's Early English Lyrics, XXXIII, p. 71, where some further 
information will be found. 

p. cxlix. Pastance vitht gude companye. The MS. mentioned as belonging 
to a Mrs. Lamb was purchased by the British Museum in 1882, and is now 
Addl. MS. 31922. See notes in E. E. Lyrics, u. s., where this poem is printed 
as No. CXXIII, p. 212. 

p. clii. Cou thou me the raschis grene. The Royal MS. 58 has been 
printed in Anglia, xii. 

For the Note above I am indebted to Mr. R. B. 
McKerrow, M.A. 

F. J. F. 



12 



POREWOEDS. 

When turning from the England of 1303, from Arthurian Leg- 
ends and the Holy Grrail, from Poems on the Virgin and Christ, 
to the later Ballads of the Percy Folio, I was faced at every turn 
by Captain COX. 'This was in Captain Cox's Library; this 
wasn't in Captain Cox's list ; Captain Cox didn't mention the 
other :' nothing could be settled without reference to Captain Cox. 
Either having forgotten this famous man, or never having heard 
of him before, when I evidently ought to have known his name as 
well as Shakspere's, I felt extremely humbled at my ignorance ; I 
at once looked him out in the British Museum Catalogue, and 
several Biographical Dictionaries, but could find nothing about 
him. At last I was obliged to submit to the further humiliation ot 
asking (with many apologies) a ballad-loving friend, who this Captain 
Cox was. My friend x'cferred me to Lanehams Letter; and 
there the great Captain stood revealed to me. The foremost 
figure in English Storj-book and Ballad history the valiant Co- 
ventry mason is ; and in so bright a picture of merry outofdoor 
Elizabethan life is he set in Laneham' s Letter, that on starting 
the Ballad Society, I resolved to re-edit the Letter, with Captain 
Cox's name at the head of it, in order, if possible, to bring him 
into more prominence. 

Though we must admit that the Captain was not the first per- 
son in Laneham's mind when he wrote his letter, still, it is for 
the lists of Captain Cox's story-books and ballads that reference 
has, in our days, been most frequently made to the tract. Walter 
Scott's ' Kenilworth ' revived interest in it for the last generation, 
and led to its reprint then ; Mr. George Adler's ' Amye Eobsart 
and the Earl of Leicester ' has led to its reprint now, since my 
own was in type. The Rev. E. H. Knowles of Abbey Hill, 
Kenilworth, has just ready a fresh edition of it, with fine photo- 
graphs of the ruins of the Castle, etc. Still, the merit of the Letter 
is great enough to justify its reproduction by any number oi 

b 



X Account of Robert Laneham. 

people or aocieties, each from his or its own point of view, and 
with comments accordingly. 

The Letter is written by one London mercer, Robert Lane- 
ham, to another, Master Humfrey Martin, and describes the visit 
of Queen Elizabeth to her favourite, and Laneham's patron, the 
Earl of Leicester, at Kenilworth Castle for nineteen days, from 
Saturday the 9th to Wednesday the 27th of July, 1575. The 
castle itself, its grounds and appointments, the pageants presented 
before the Queen, as well as an ancient minstrel with a solemn 
song, prepared for her, but not shown to her (pp. 36-42), are all 
described by Laneham with great gusto ; but he has unluckily 
left out the last week of the fun, as he took such slender notes of 
what went on (p. 43). 

Laneham is a most amusing, self-satisfied, rollicking chap. He 
tells us his history ; that he went to school both at St. Paul's 
(Colet's school) and St. Anthony's (where Whitgift was), was in 
the fifth form, got through ^sop's Fables, read Terence, and 
began Virgil, then served Master Bomsted a Mercer in London, 
then traded in sundry countries — among others, ' in Erauns and 
Flaunders long and many a day ' (p. 1) — and so gat languages, 
which helpt his Latin (p. 61). Leicester took him up, — for his 
ready tongue and merry ways, no doubt, as well as his knowledge 
of ' Laugagez,' — gave him apparel, even from his own back, got 
him allowance in the stable, got him made Doorkeeper of the 
Council Chamber, helpt him in his license to import beans duty 
free, and let his father 'serve the stable,' — that is, as I suppose, 
supply it with grain and fodder — so that our worthy says "I go 
noow in my sylks, that els might rufil in my cut cauves [or poor 
men's clothes] : I ryde now a hors bak, that els many timez 
mighte mannage it a foot : am knoen to their honors, & taken 
foorth with the best, that els might be bidden to stand bak my 
self" (p. 57). 

Laneham tells us besides how he spent his days at Kenilworth ; 
and in this account, pages 58-61, the full character of the man 
comes out in a most amusing way. The reader should turn at 
once to the passages, and enjoy them : the "jolly & dry a morn- 
ings," the being " by & by in the bones of " any listener, or 
prier, the seating his friends, but "let the rest walk, a Gods 
name "; his airing his languages before the foreigners, being, " in 
afternoons & a nights . . . alwayez among the Gentlwemen," 



Laneham at Kenilworth. His character. xi 

showing off before company, dancing, playing, singing, making 

eyes and sighs at Mistress , whose name he won't tell, being 

able to " gracify the matters az well az the prowdest of them," 
give us the very man. " Stories I delight in," says he (p. 61) ; 
Music he loves : " take ye this by the way, that for the sraal skyl 
in muzik that God hath sent me, (ye kno it iz sumwhat) ile set 
the more by my self while my name iz Laneham ; and grace a 
God ! A ! muzik is a noble Art !" (p. 35). His patron Leicester 
was perfection in his eyes (pp. 56-8), and Kenilworth nearly 
Paradise (p. 48-53). He enjoyed the beautiful country round 
him (p. 2-3), revelled in all the show and bustle about him, de- 
lighted in the conceits of the pageants, rejoiced in the stag-hunts 
(p. 13, 16), thought the bear-baiting fine sport (p. 16-18), threw 
himself into the rough fun of the country bride-ale and Coventry 
play (p. 20, 26), quizzed the performers (p. 22-4), took off the 
old minstrel (p. 40), drank lots of good ale and wine (p. 8, 45), 
eat to his fill (p. 59) ; and in the best of spirits with everything 
about him, and especially with himself, the excellent Robert 
Laneham, gent., wrote this Letter about the whole affair to his 
friend Master Martin, one of the jovial set they both belonged to 
in London. 

No doubt if there'd been a Superfine Eeview in his day, it 
would have called him a coxcomb, reproved him for his vulgarity, 
and perchance written an article on his " females," as its present 
representative has on our workingmen's wives and daughters in 
their holiday-excursions. For my part, I am content to take 
Robert Laneham and enjoy him as he is ; and I only wish that 
twenty others like him had left us such genuine pictures of the 
country life and sports of Elizabeth's time. As for his writing so 
much about himself, I only wish my contemporaries would follow 
his example, and believe that posterity will enjoy what they write, 
as much as we do like bits in the writings of our predecessors. 
Let men he themselves in their writings, and let critics, and " uu- 
"unsuited-to-the-dignity-of-print," etcetera, be blowed ! 

But where is Captain Cox all this while ? Well, we're coming 
to him soon. 

In order to make room for him, I have put an abstract of the 
amusements of each day of the (Queen's visit in the Contents, above. 
She arrived at Kenilworth Castle on Saturday the 9th of July 
1575. On her first Sunday, the forenoon was spent in " divine 



xii Captain Cox. Object of these Forewords. 

seruis & preaching at the parish church," while in the afternoon — 
the place not being a People's Park, and there being no Mr. 
Ayrtou to stop the bands playing dance-music, for fear her 
Majesty's scruples should be offended — " excellent music of sun- 
dry swet instruments " was played, and " dancing of Lords and 
Ladiez, and oother worshipfull degrees" went on. The second 
Sunday, July 17, 1575, was St. Kenelm's day, — the saint and king 
who built^ part of the Castle, and after whom it was called ; — and 
advantage was taken of this anniversary to show the Queen some 
of the characteristic sports of the country, including especially 
the old historical Hock-Tuesday play of the men of Coventry — a 
town so famous for its Mysteries — commemorating the masacre of 
the Danes on Nov. 13, 1002, or June S, 1042. In this latter. 
Captain Cox appears. I tlierefore refer the reader to pages 
20-26 of Laneham's tract, for a description of the acting of the 
Bride-ale — with our author's quizzical description of the per- 
formers, bridegroom, morris-dance, bridesmaids, cupbearer, bride, 
running at the Quintain, and general shindy following, — and pro- 
ceed to reprint here the account of Captain Cox, giving a separate 
half-line and number to each of his tracts, etc. ; then, with the 
help of Mr. Halliwell, Mr. Hazlitt,^ Mr. Wm. Chappell, etc., I 
shall comment on the Captain's list of Story-Books and Ballads, 
describing each, so far as I can, in order to give my readers a view 
of the literature on which the reading members of the English 
middle-class in Elizabeth's time were brought up ; and lastly, I 
shall contrast Captain Cox's list with that of the books, ballads, and 
tunes known in Scotland in 1548 to the writer of the Complaynt of 
Scotland, adding also a few comments on this latter list, by the 
help of Leydeu, etc. Here then is Captain COX : — 

Captain ^^^ aware, keep bak, make room noow, heer they cum ! And fyrst, 
Cox. captin Cox, an od man I promiz yoo : ty profession a Mason, and 
that right skilful!, very cunning in fens, and hardy az Gawin ; for 
hiz tonsword hangs at his tahlz eend : great ouersight hath he in matters of 
storie : For, az for 



I. King Arthurz book. 
II. Huow of Burdeaus. 

III. Thefooursunsof Aymon. 

IV. Beuys of Hampton. 

V, The squyre of lo degree. 



VI. The knight of courtesy, 
and the Lady Faguell. 
VII. Frederik of Gene. 
VIII. Syr Eglamoour. 
IX. Sir Tryamoour. 



' That is, is said to have built. 

" The information as to old editions is nearly all taken from Mr. HazUtt's 
Handbooli. 



Captain Cox's Books, Plays, and Ballads. 



xin 



clough, & William of 
cloudesley. 

The Churl & the Burd. 

The seauen wise Masters. 

The wife lapt in a Morels 
skin. 

The sak full of nuez. 

The seargeaunt that be- 
came a Fryar. 

Skogan. 

Collyn cloout. 

The Fryar & the hoy. 

Elynor Rumming. 

The Nuthrooun maid. 

With many moe then I rehearz heere : I heleeue hee haue them all at hiz 
fingers endz. 

Then, in Philosophy both morall and naturall, I think he be az naturally 
ouerseen : beside poetrie and Astronomic, and oother hid sciencez, as I may 
gesse by the omberty of hiz books : whear-of part az I remember, 



X. 


Sir Lamwell. 






XI. 


Syr Isenbras. 






XII. 


Syr Gawyn. 




XXTV. 


XIII. 


Olyuer of the Castl. 




XXV. 


XIV. 


Lucres and Eiu'ialus. 




XXVI. 


XV. 


Virgils Hfe. 






XVI. 


The castle of Ladiez. 




XXVII. 


XVII. 


The wido Edyth. 




XXVIII. 


XVIII. 


The King & the Tanner. 




XIX. 


Frier Rous. 




XXIX. 


XX. 


Howleglas. 




XXX. 


XXI. 


Gargantua. 




XXXI. 


XXII. 


Eobinhood. 




XXXII. 


XXIII. 


Adambel, Clim of 


the 


XXXIII. 



XXXIV. The Sheperdz kalender. 
XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. 
XXXVI. Danielz dreamz. 
XXXVII. The booke of Fortune. 
XXXVIII. ' Stans puer ad inensam.' 
XXXIX. The hy wey to the Spitl- 
house. 
XL. lulian of Brainfords tes- 
tament. 
XLI. The castle of Loue. 

Beside hiz auncient iDlayz, 



XLVIII. 
XLIX. 



Yooth & charitee. 
Hikskorner. 



XLII. Theboogetof Demaunds. 
XLIII. The hundred Mery talez. 
XLIV. The book of Riddels. 
XLV. The Seauen sororz of 

wemen. 
XL VI. The prooud wiues Pater 

noster. 
XLVII. The Chapman of a peni- 
woorth of Wit. 



L. Nugize. 
LI. Impacient pouerty. 



And heerwith, 

LII. Doctor Boords breuiary of health. 

What shoold I rehearz heer, what a bunch of ballets & songs, all auncient : 
Az 



LIII. Broom broom on hil. 
LIV. So wo iz me begon, troly 
lo. 
LV. Oiier a whinny Meg. 
LVI. Hey ding a ding. 



LVII. Bony lass vpon a green. 
LVIII. My bony on gaue me a 
bek. 
LIX. By a bank az I lay. 



and a hundred more, he hath, fair wrapt vp in Parchment, and bound with a 
whipcord. 

And az for Allmanaks of antiquitee (a point for Ephemerides) I weene hee 
can sheaw from (LX) lasper Laet of Antwarp vnto (LXI) Nostradam of 
Frauns, and thens vnto oour (LXII) John Securiz of Salsbury. To stay ye 
no longer heerin, I dare say hee hath az fair a library for theez sciencez, & 
az many goodly monuments both in proze & poetry, & at afternoonz can talk 
az much without book, az ony Inholder betwixt Brainford and Bagshot, what 
degree soeuer he be. 

Beside thiz, in the field a good Marshall at musters : of very great credite 
&i trust in the toun heer, for he haz been choze?i Alecuwner many a yeere, 



xiv Other lists of Romances and books. 

when hiz betterz haiie stond ty : & euer quited himself with such estimation, 
az yet too the tast of a cup of Nippitate, his indgment will be taken aboue the 
best in the parish, be hiz noze near so read. 

Captain Cox cam marching on valiantly before, cleen trust, & gartered 
aboue the knee, all fresh in a veluet cap (master Golding h^d lent it him) 
floorishing with hiz tonswoord, and anothers fensmaster with him : thus in 
the foreward making room for the rest. 

Of this happy custom of giving lists of the story-books known 
to the writer of a later book, we have plenty of early instances in 
English. The Qursur o Worlde, or Cursor Mtmdi, many Romances, 
Robert of Brunne, Chaucer, Lydgate, and others, practised it 
before Laneham. The latest list before Laneham that I have 
seen, is given by Mr. J. P. Colliei* — with what accuracy I am 
unable to judge — in his Bihliographical Account, i. 327, from ' A 
Briefe and necessary Instruction etc., by E. D., 8vo, 1572 : (I 
italicize the books that are also in Captain Cox's list :) 

Bevis of Ham2}ton, Guy of Warwicke, Arthur of the rournl table, Huon of 
Bordeaux, Oliver of the Gastle, the foure sonnes of Amond, the witles devices of 
Gargantua, Howleglas, Esop, JRohyn Soode, Adam Bell, Frier Sushe, the Fooles 
of Gotham, and a thousand such other. 

Among the 'such other' are mentioned 'tales of Eobjm Goodfellow,' 
' Songes and Sonets,' ' Pallaces of Pleasure,' ' unchast fables and Tragedies, 
and such like Sorceries,' 'The Courte of Venus,' ' The Castle of love.' 

In passing, we may note the extraordinary omission by Laneham 
of Guy of Warwick' in Capt. Cox's list, as it is incredible that a 
"Warwickshire collector like the Captain should not have had it. 
The fact lends colour to the supposition that the list is as much 
one of Laneham's own books as Capt. Cox's. 

The next list to Laneham's that I know, is given in a book, the 
first edition of which is dated 1579. In tlie 2nd edition of this 
il^ 1586, The English Courtier and the Cuntrey-gentleman, Vincent, 
tlie country-gentleman, says how they amuse themselves 'in fowle 
weather ' at dice, cards, and games, and 

" Wee want not also pleasant mad-headed knaues thai bee properly learned, 
and will reade in diuerse pleasant bookes and good Avithors : as Sir Guy of 
Warwicke, the fot(re Sonnes of Anion, the Ship of Fooles, the Budget of Demaunds, 
the Hundreth merry Tales, the Booke of Rijddles, and many other excellent 
writers both witty and plcasaunt." p. 57, ed. 1868, Boxbiirghe Library. 

If we turn now to the list of the Scotch writer of the Complaynt 
of Scotland, about 154)8 a.d., we at once find a great change. 
Only two of Captain Cox's stories are in the Scotch list, namely 
'The Four Sons of Aymon,' and 'Bevis of Hampton,' though the 
Complaynt matches Captain Cox's I, Arthurz book, and XII, Sir 



The Complaynt list of books. I. King Arthurz book, xv 

Gawyn, by its (23) Arthur story or tale in rime, (19) Gauen and 
Gollogras, (16) Syr Euan (Ywain) and (20) Lancelot du Lac; 
and Captain Cox's XXII, Robin Hood, by its (29) Robene Hude 
and Litil Ihoue, and its dance-tune of (91) Eobene Hude. Still, 
of the Scotchman's 46 stories, at least twelve are known to us as 
English ones, as will be noted below. Another marked difference 
between the lists of the two countries is, the very great number 
of classical or semi-classical stories in the Scotch list, ten, — (11) 
Hercules and the Hydra, (37) Actseon, (38) Pyramus and Thisbe, 
(39) Leander and Hero, (40) Jupiter and lo, (41) Jason and the 
Golden Fleece, (43) The Golden Apple, (44) The 3 Weird Sisters 
[FarccB or Eates], (45) Daodalus and the Minotaur, (46) Midas 
and his ass-ears, — as against Captain Cox's none, for we can 
hardly call the middle-age necromancer of XV, Virgil's Life, 
classical, though he may have originated in the poet Virgil. This 
contrast means, I take it, not that Scotch shepherds or merchants 
knew more classics, or cared more for them, than our Coventry 
mason, or Robert Laneham, but that the writer of the Gomplaynt 
was a far more ' bookish ' man — he's brimfull of classics — than 
Laneham, our London mercer. 

Let us now take Captain Cox's (or Laneham's) books separately, 
and describe shortly such of them as are accessible in the British 
Museum, etc. 

I. King Arthurz hook. This is Sir Thomas Maleore's or Malory's 
well-known Morte Darthur, or abstract of the several prose French 
Romances of Merlin, — in its two states, shown by Mr. Henry 
Huth's unique version^ containing the book of Balin and Balan, and 
by the ordinary version, of which Mr. H. B. Wheatley has edited an 
early English prose translation for the Early English Text Society 
from the unique MS. in the Cambridge University Library, ab. 
1440 A.D. — Les Prophecies cle Ilerlin, Lancelot del Lac, Tristan, 
Queate del Saint- Graal, Morte d' Arthur, etc. Sir T. Maleore 
finished his work in the 9th year of king Edward the Fourth, a.d. 
1469, and Caxton printed the first edition of it in 1485. "Wynkyn 
de Worde reprinted Caxton's edition, with a few variations, — on 
which see Sir Ed. Strachey's modernized and expurgated edition, 
for Macmillan's Globe Series in 1868, p. xvi. — in 1498, and again 
in 1529. Then Wyllyam Copland reprinted it again in 1557, at 
his predecessor Robert's old shop, at the sign of the Rose Garlande 

* It is stiU in MS, though copied for printing. 



xvi /. King Arthurz book. 

in Meet Street ; and these are all the editions that we know before 
Laneham's date. So scarce have these early editions become, 
that we know of only 2 imperfect copies of the Caxton, (Lord 
Jersey's has no title ; Lord Spencer's has 11 leaves in facsimile, 
not from Caxton's edition) ; one imperfect of each of tlie Wynkyn 
de Wordes (1498, Lord Spencer; 1529, Grenville collection in 
the British Museum). Of the Copland, Mr. Halliwell — seemingly 
quoting a copy of his own — says that it is entitled " The Hystorye 
of the moost noble and worthy prynce, Kynge Arthur," while 
Mr. Hazlitt gives the first words of the title as " The Story of the 
most noble and worthy Kynge Arthur," and says that copies are 
in the British Museum (King's books), and the Pepysian Library 
at Magdalen College, Cambridge (with no title page) and else- 
where ; and that it's printed in double columns with woodcuts. 

1 do not tell the stories in this book because all my readers 
must know them well, and must have judged how far Ascham was 
right in calling the book one ' of bold bawdry,' how far Wynkyn 
de Worde^ in saying, " me thinketh this present book called La 
Morte Darthur is right necessary often to be read ; for in it ye 
shall find the gracious, knightly, and virtuous war of most noble 
knights of the world, whereby they gat praising continual. 
Also me seemeth, by the oft reading thereof ye shall greatly 
desire to accustom yourself in following of those gracious knightly 
deeds, that is to say, to dread God, and to love righteousness, 
faithfully and courageously to serve your sovereign prince." 

Maleore's and Tennyson's conceptions of Arthur differ widely. 
Our Victorian poet makes him a sinless king, — a type of Christ, — 
whose work is marred by the guilt of his wife and his friends. 
Maleore, on the other hand, makes Arthur what a Norman knight, 
a Keltic chieftain, would certainly have been, a gratifier of his own 
lust : he sins, not only with Lienors, — he begat Borres on her (ed. 
1816, p. 34, bk. i. ch. 15), — but with his own half-sister Margawse, 
King Lot's wife, and the son of his incest works his father's death. 
The prophecy of Merlin on Arthur's committing his crime is 
fulfilled 2 ; and for his own sin the Flower of Kings withers and 
dies. The Fate is on him from his youth ; and over all his glory 
hangs ever the dark cloud of unatoned-for sin. 

^ See Strachey's modernized ed. p. xiv., 488. 

2 " You have done a thing late, wherefore God is displeased with you ; for 
you have lain by your sister ; and on her you.have gotten a child that shall 
destroy you and all the knights of your realm." *' TVliat arc you," said king 



II. Huon of Burdeaus, xvii 

II. Huon of Burdeaus. This is a translation, by the famous 
Sir Johan Bourchier, Lord Berners, — whose englishings of Frois- 
sart's Chronicle and the Romance of Arthur of Little Britain, are 
so well known — of 'a long, heavy French Eomance,' says Mr. 
Halliwell {.Pop. Tracts, p. 6) ; but that is matter of opinion, as Mr, 
Dunlop speaks of its " singularity and beauty," — see also page xix 
— and Lord Berners wasn't a fool. The first edition is supposed 
to have been printed about 1535 by Robert Eedborne, says Hazlitt's 
Handbooh ; by Pynson, say Mr. Corser and Messrs. Sotheby. 
The only copy known was Dr. Bliss's, afterwards Mr. Corser's, 
at whose sale in 1869, ' wanting title and 2 leaves at end, supposed 
to be printed by Pynson,' it fetched £81. An edition by Thomas 
Purfoot in 1601 says that it is 'now the third time imprinted.' 
The second edition is perhaps that mentioned by Mr. Halliwell at 
p. 6-7 of his Popular Tracts : " I have recently seen an imperfect 
copy of an ancient edition of this translation, printed in folio, in 
double columns, and illustrated with rude woodcuts, certainly 
printed before Shakespeare could have commenced writing for the 
stage, and in all probability not long after the year 1560." The 
translation was made by Lord Berners at the request of the Earl 
of Huntingdon, and extracts from it are given in Halliwell's " Illus- 
trations of Fairy Mythology," Shakesp. Soc. 1845. "Shakespeare 
probably took the name of Oberon from this old romance." 

The story of it is told in Dunlop's History of Fiction, ed. 184?5, 
p. 123, col. 1; and 'the incidents in the Oberon of Wieland' 
(which Mr. Sotheby translated) ' are nearly the same with those 
in the old French romance.' 

Charlemagne's son. Chariot, waylays Huon, and is slain by 
him. Huon can only get pardon by going to the Emir Gaudisse 
of Bagdad, aud at table cutting off the head of the bashaw on his 
right, kissing his daughter 3 times, and bringing a lock of the 
Emir's white beard, and 4 of his best grinders, to Charlemagne. 
Huon sets out, goes to the Holy Sepulchre, and then the coast of 
the Red Sea, whence a naked old French escaped slave, G-erasmes, 
takes him through Oberon's forest, towards Bagdad. Oberon, a 
lovely child of 4 years old, and the son of Julius Caesar (as he 

Arthur, " that tell me these tidings ?" "I am Merlin, and I was he in the 
king's likeness." " Ah !" said king Arthur," ye are a marvellous man ; but 
I marvel much of thy words, that I must die in battle." " Marvel not," said 
Merlin, " for it is God's will that your body be punished for your foul deeds." 
(Bk. i. oh. 18, ed. 1816, p. 39.) 



xviii II. Huon of Burdeaus. 

says) gives Huon a magic goblet and horn, and afterwards rescues 
him, in Tourmont, from his traitorous renegade uncle. Huon 
then kills the giant Angoulaffre, reaches Bagdad, cuts oif the 
head of the lover of Esclarmonde, the Emir's daughter, kisses her 
3 times, and asks the Emir for a lock of his beard and his 4 
grinders. The Emir has Huon chained and cast into prison; 
but Esclarmonde visits him, turns Christian, and offers to kill her 
father. But Huon is set free to conquer the brother of the giant 
Angoulaffre, which he does, and then asks the Emir to be bap- 
tized. The Emir orders Huon to be seized ; but his magic horn 
summons Oberon ; the Emir's head is struck off, and the lock of 
his beard and 4 grinders are soon Huon's. Huon then sails for 
Italy with treasure and Esclarmonde ; but Oberon threatens him 
with dire punishments if he takes a husband's enjoyment out of 
Esclarmonde before he marries her. Of course Huon does this, 
and is shipwrecked ; does it again, and has Esclarmonde carried 
away from him to King Tvoirin's seraglio. To that king's court, 
by the help of Malebron, one of Oberon's spirits, Huon gets, and 
there defeats Tvoirin's enemy Galafre. Afterwards, uniting with 
Gerasmea, who was then Galafre's champion, Huon frees Esclar- 
monde — still a virgin — sails to Italy, and weds her in Eorae. He 
then sets out for Charlemagne's court, but is betrayed and sent 
there in chains by his brother Girart. Falsely accused, he is 
condemned and led to the stake ; but Oberon rescues him, has 
Girart killed, and invites Huon and Esclarmonde to visit him in 
his fairy land. Here the original story ends. The continuation 
adds : Huon having cut off the head of the son of Thiery, emperor 
of Germany, is invaded by that potentate, in Guienne. He sails 
for Asia to get help from Esclarmonde's brother, and while he is 
absent, his wife is captured, and Gerasmes slain. On his voyage, 
Huon's ship is carried into a whirlpool, where he sees Judas 
Iscariot swimming and lamenting. The ship afterwards strikes 
on a rock of adamant, whereon the Lady of the Hidden Isle has 
built a glorious palace to hide her lover Julius Caesar from the 
fury of three kings of Egypt. After a long stay here, Huon 
leaves on the back of a griffin, and is set down on a mountain 
where he finds the Fountain of Touth — wherein he bathes, — and 
its apple-tree, 3 of whose youth-giving apples he is let pluck. 
Then he is borne in a boat down a stream through a subterranean 
canal, where he gathers magic stones, to the Persian Gulf ; and he 



11. Huon of Burdeaus. III. Foour Sons of Aymon. xix 

lands at Tauris. He wins the favour of the Sultan by the gift of 
one of his magic apples, and gets an army to free Esclarmonde. 
Landing at the desert isle of Abillaut, he sees Cain going round 
the top of a mountain in a cask full of serpents and spikes, and 
has a ride in the boat of the evil spirits vrho made the cask. 
Huon then visits Jerusalem, and makes war on the Sultan of 
Egypt; then lands at Marseilles, sends off his fleet, gives his 2nd 
youth-apple to his uncle, the Abbot of Clugny ; and with the third 
gets back his wife from Emperor Thiery. Huon and Esclarmonde 
return to their own land of Guienne, and then visit Oberon in 
his enchanted forest, who installs Huon " in the empire of Eaery," 
and expires shortly after. The remainder of the romance, or 
rather fairy-tale, contains an account of the reign of Huon, and 
his dispute with Arthur (who had hoped for the appointment) as 
to the sovereignty of Fairy-land ; and also the adventures of the 
Duchess Clairette, the daughter of Huon and Esclarmonde, from 
whom was descended the illustrious family of Capet. 

" There are few rom;inces of chivalry which possess more beauty 
and interest than Huon of Bourdeaux : the story, however, is too 
long protracted, and the first part seems to have exhausted the 
author's stores of imagination. Huon is a more interesting 
character than most of the knights of Charlemagne. . . . The sub- 
ordinate characters in the work are also happily drawn. . . ." 

So says Mr. Dunlop (Hist. Fiction, p. 129), who evidently 
knew more about the subject than Mr. Halliwell. The reader 
will find another sketch of the story in M. Alfred Delvau's Bihlio- 
theque Bleue, Paris 1849, a book otherwise called Collection den 
Bomans de Chevalerie, mis en Prose frangaise Moderne, Paris, 
Bacbelin-Deflorenue 1869, i. 145.1 

III. The Foour sons of Aymon. This is a translation by Caxton 
about 1489, of one of the French Romances of the Charlemagne 
cycle. 

Of Caxton's edition no perfect copy is known. The colophon 
of the 3rd edition by Wylliam Copland in 1554, now in Bridge- 

^ M. Delvau is one of the J. P. Collier class who seldom tell you where 
their originals are ; though in this i^oint Delvau sins more than Collier. One 
of the late originals in the British Museum, ' Les prouesses et faitz merueilleux 
du noble Huon de bordeaulx, per de france, due de guyenne,' printed at Paris 
by ' Michel le noir, Libraire jure en luniuersite de paris,' and finished the 
26th day of November 1513, has very quaint and jolly woodcuts, and tells 
the bits of its story that I have read, in most pleasant language. 

c 2 



xxii IV. Beuys of Hampton. 

account of it in modern Ereuch is in his Collection des Romans 
de Chevalerie, Paris, 1869, i. 97, or Bihliotheque Bleue, 1849. 
The late Fi'ench prose romance, and the English translation of it, 
no doubt differ in details from the earlier Chansons de Geste. 

IV. Beuys of Hampton. The earliest copy of this Romance, 
which is translated from a ' Frensche boke,' is in the Auchinleck 
MS. ab. 1320-30 a.d. and was printed by the Maifcland Club in 
1838. Other MSS. are in the University Library, Cambridge, 
and the Library of Caius College, Cambridge, etc. The first printed 
version that we know, is from the press of Pynson, without date, 
aud the only copy known is among Douce's books in the Bodleian. 
Of tbe next print that we know, "Wynkyn de "Worde's, ' a frag- 
ment of two leaves is in the Bodleian among Douce's books.' Of 
the third print, William Coplande's, a copy is among Grarrick's 
books in the British Museum. Editions were licensed to Thomas 
Marshe in 1558 {Stationers^ First Register, leaf 31^), to John 
Tysdayle in 1560-1 \ih. leaf 62 back), and to John Aide in 1568-9 
(j&. leaf 179) ;— see Collier's Stat. Becj. i. 16, 38, 200 ;— but none of 
these editions are now known. If they were printed, the book 
must have been the most popular of those we have yet dealt with 
in Captain Cox's library. The story it tells is sketched by Ellis 
in his Early English Metrical Romances, from the Caius MS. and 
Pynson's copy. A king of Scotland's daughter has been given to 
old Sir Gij or Guy of South Hamtoun, and thougli he begets 
Bevis on her, he does not kiss and cuddle her all day as a younger 
lover would. She therefore sends to Sir Murdour to kill her 
husband and marry her ; which, by her treachery, he does ; and 
then .she orders her 7-year old son, Bevis, to be murdered, aud as 
that fails, to be sold as a slave and sent into heathendom. At the 
court of the Saracen Ermyn, he kills, when 15 years old, 60 
knights, and then a monstrous boar, and 9 foresters. Being 
knighted, mounted on his steed Arundel, and armed with his 
sword Morglay, he leads Ermyn's small army against the large 
force of Bradmoiid, king of Damascus, who has demanded Ermyn's 
daughter, Josyan. lie kills Bradmond's giant Eadyson, unhorses 
aud defeats Bradmond, and then induces Josyan to promise to 
deny her faith aud marry him. Eor this he is sent treacherously 
to Bradmond, who casts him into a dungeon in Damascus with 2 
dragons. These Bevis slays ; and after 7 years' imprisonment his 
chain breaks by a miracle, and he escapes. Killing his foremost 

* I have verified the references. 



IV. Beuys of Hampton. V. Squyre of Lo Degree, xxiii 

pursuer, and then his gigantic brother, Bevis goes to Jerusalem, 
and tlience to Mouubrauut, from the king of which country, 
Inor, he carries off his love Josyan, who had married Inor, but 
had remained a virgin. After killing two lions, a giant, and a most 
terrible dragon, and rescuing Josyan from the people who are 
about to burn her for hanging Earl Mile who had carried her off, 
Bevis has Sir Murdour, his father's murderer, thrown into a 
boiling caldron, while his mother, Murdour's wife, casts herself 
headlong from a tower. Bevis then recovers his father's Earldom 
of Southampton, but soon has to give it up — because his horse 
Arundel has killed King Edgar's son, who wanted to steal it, — 
and goes abroad. Josyan and her two babies are carried off from 
him for 7 years, but at length rejoin him, and he defends his 
father-in-law king Ermyn against Inor. His son Gruy is made 
king of Ermyn's land, and he (Bevis) kills Inor and all his army, 
and becomes king of Mounbraunt. Thence he returns to England 
to restore his cousin Eobert to his estates. He encamps at 
Putney, slays the king's steward, and (with his sons) has a fierce 
long fight in London, in which 60,000 men are slain ; their blood 
runs down to Temple-Bar, and turns the Thames red. The result 
of this is, that King Edgar marries his daughter to Bevis's son. 
Sir Mile, who is crowned King of England, while Bevis and 
Josyan return to Mounbraunt, where they and their steed Arundel 
all die together, 

V. The Squyre of Lo Degree (or " Undo your Dore "). A poem 
pretty enough to have justified many more editions than the only 
early ones that have reached us, namely two ; 1. Wynkyn de 
Worde's, of which 4 leaves only are known ; 2. AVyllyam Cop- 
land's, of which a unique copy is among Garrick's books in the 
British Museum. (The latter has been reprinted by Ritson in 
vol. iii. of his Ancient Metrical Homances, and by Mr. W. C. 
Hazlitt in his Select Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of 
England, vol. ii. p. 21-64, 1866). 3. An edition, not now known, 
was licensed to John Kynge on June 10, 1560 ; and as two other 
of Captain Cox's books were licensed with it, I copy the entry 
from leaf 48 of the Stationers' Eirst Eegister, (it's also in Collier, 
i. 26) putting in some stops : 

Receyvd of John Kynge, for his Lycense for pryntinge of these Copyes : \ 
Lucas vrialis^, nyce wanton / impaciens poverte / The proude wyves f •• 
pater noster / The squyre of Low degre / and syr deggre : graunted l ^ ' 
y= X of June a" 1560 / 

3 Lucres and Euryalus. See below, p. xxxviii. No. XIV. 



xxiv V. Squyre of Lo Degree. VI. Knight of Courtesy. 

The story told in 1132 lines is one of the best and uiost popular 
of our early tales, and was no doubt known to Shakspere: "Tou 
called me yesterday mountain- squire, but I will make you to-day 
a sgruire of low degreed Fluellin in Henry V., act 5, sc. 1. The 
poor Squire and Marshal of the King of Hungary loves tliat king's 
daughter for 7 years in silence. At length his love finds voice, 
and he finds it is returned ; but his Princess bids him go abroad 
for 7 years, and earn fame in fight, then visit the holy city 
Jerusalem, and come back to wed her. She gives him money and 
arms, and the Squire starts, but, returning to take leave of her, 
is caught at her door by the King's treacherous Steward with a 
band of men. The Squire kills 7 men and the Steward, but is 
taken, and put in prison by the King's orders. The Steward's 
corpse, dressed in the Squire's clothes, is set against the Prin- 
cess's door, and his face so hacked, that she thinks the body is 
the Squire's. She embalms it, and for seven years daily mourns 
over it. Then, unknown to her, the King frees the Squire, and 
sends him abroad to gain fame, and see the Holy Land, during 7 
years more. This he does, his love still keeping his supposed 
corpse by her, and daily mourning over it. The King tempts her 
with all kinds of pleasure ; but she, faithful ever, will have none 
of them. At last, when the Squire has, like Jacob for his Eachel, 
served twice 7 years, the King brings the living lover to his 
daughter; and the Squire of Low Degree is King, and with his 
Queen leads his life thenceforth in joy and bliss. 

As bright as spring, and as tender as evening light, is the old 
story in its different parts ; and besides, it is interesting for its 
many details of old-world life, its list of trees (1. 29-41), of birds 
(1. 45-60), of tlie parts of a knight's armour (1. 203-230), how he 
is to win renown, etc., and specially the King's description of the 
pleasures, dress, room and pursuits of his daughter (1. 711-852). 
There is a poor, much-shortened, version of it in the Percy Eolio 
Ballads and Romances, iii. 263, containing only 170 lines, against 
the 1132 of the original, as we must call Copland's late version 
of an earlier original, which it has evidently altered in many words 
and left out several lines of: — see 1. 625-7, and compare the story 
of Lyhiiis Disconius. 

VI. The Knight of Courtesy and the Lady Faguell. The only 
edition known is by Wyllyam Coplande, not dated, but probabi}'- 
before 1557, as there is no notice of it in the Stationers' First 



VI. Knight of Courtesy. VII. Frederik of Gene. xxv 

llegister. A unique copy of it is in the Bodleian, which Eitson 

reprinted (less one stanza) in the third volume of his Ancient 

3Ietriccd Romances, 1802 ; and Mr. Hazlitt has since reprinted it 

iu vol. ii. of his Early Popular Poetry, p. 65-87. It is only 504 

lines long, and its story is a sad one of platonic love. The Lord 

of !Faguell, who has a sweet chaste wiie, hears such a report 

of the bravery and courteousuess of "The Noble Knight of 

Courtesy " that he sends for him to dwell in hia land. The 

Knight comes, and he and the Lady of Paguell fall in love with 

each other. The}'- have a tender scene in the garden, and agree 

to love one another in chastity. An overhearer of this warns 

the Lord against the Knight, and the Lord then calls ou the 

Knight to go to Rhodes, and fight for the Christian Faith. To 

the Lady's great distress, the Knight consents, and slie shears off 

all her yellow hair to put in his helm as a memento of her. Sadly 

they part. He seeks adventures, wins jousts, slays a dragon in 

Lombardy, who nearly kills him ; and then he goes to Rhodes to 

help the Christians against the besieging Saracens. The Knight 

kills all whom he meets, till at last 12 Saracens set on him, and 

wound him to death, after he has killed 4 of them. He makes his 

page promise to cut out his heart, after he is dead, wrap it in his 

Lady's hair, and take it to her as his present. On the way home, 

the page is met by the Lord of Fagaell, who takes away the heai't 

and hair, has the heart cookt for his Lady's dinner, and then tells 

her what she has eaten. She reproaches him, and says that, after 

the heart, she will eat no earthly food ; then she yields up her 

spirit, making her moan. 

VII. Frederik of Gene. Mr. Halliwell, saying that a fragment 

of this tract is in Deuce's collection in the Bodleian, gives its 

title (from Herbert's Ames, I suppose.) Mi\ Hazlitt adds its 

colophon. Both follow : 

This Mater Treateth of a Merchauntcs Wyfo tliat afterwarde went lyko a 
man, and becam a Great Lorde, and was called Frederyke of Jennen after- 
warde. [Col.] Thus endeth. this lyttell storye of lord frederyke. Imprynted 
in Anwarpe by me John Dusborowghe, dwellynge besyde the Camerporte, in 
the yere of our lorde God, 1518. 4to. With woodcuts. 

The fragments— No. 79 in the Douce Fragments — in the 
Bodleian are identified with the Homance of Frederyke of Jennen 
by the signature on leaf A iij. As to editions. Deuce's MS. notes 
state that his fragments belong to an edition by Pynson (not other- 
wise known), and not to a copy of John Dusboroughe's edition. 



XXVI 



VII. Frederik of Gene. 



He has written on the cover of the fragments, " Frederick of 
Jennen p. by Pynson," and also: " Not in Herbert. P[rinted] 
also by Doesborowe. See Herbert 1533. Story of Cymbeline." 
The fragments are as follows : — 
Douce Fragments, T How foure marchautites met a[ll togyder,] whiche 

°' ■ were of foure dyuerse ]o[ndes, and iorney]de all to Parys. 

iNtheyere of our lorde .... [it] happened that four [marchauntes] 
.... out of dyuerse country e[s went on their journeys and] as they 
were goyng [it fell so that by] fortune they met all togyder and .... 
gyder / for they were all foure goynge [to P]arys in Fraunce & 
for company sake they rode a [ . . . .] into one ynne / & it was about 
shraftyde, in the moost ioyfuU tyme of all the yere^ ; and theyr names 
were called as here foloweth. the fyrst was called Courant of Spayne / 
the second was called Borchart of Fi'auwce / the thyrde was called 
Johan of Florence / & the fourth Avas called Ambrose of Jennen. 
Than, by the consent of the other marchauwtes, Borcharde of fraunce 
went vnto the hoste and sayd: " Hoste, now is the meryest tyme of 
the yere, and we be foure marchauntes of foure dyuerse couwtryes, & by 
fortune we met all togyder in one place & our iorney is to Parys. And 
therfore whyle we be so met, lette vs make good chere togyder / & 
ordeyne the best meet that ye can get for money agaynst to morowe, 
and byd also some of your beste frendes that you loue mooste, that 




[Douce's Pencil IS'ote. " This qxA was used in Boorde's Introd." From the 
title-page of my reprint of that book for the Early English Text Society's 
Extra Series tins year, I borrow the cut. The date of Fynson's edition of 
FrederyJce of Jennen must have been 10 years or more before William Cop- 
lande's of Boorde's Introduction in 1547 or 1548.] 

^ Shrovetide is Shrove Tuesday, and may fall on any day between Feb. 2 
and March 8. 



VII. Frederik of Gene. xxvii 

we maye make good chere togyder or that we departe fro hense / and 
we shall contente you all your money agayne." And than the hoste 
sayde that he wolde do it with a good wyll, and than went he, and bad 
many of his good frendes and neyghbours to dyner ; and he bought of 
the best meet that he coude get for money, and brought it home. And 
on the morowe he dressed it, and made it redy agaynst dyner, after 
the best maner thai he coude. And whan that it was dyner^ . . . . e 
gestes to dyner & the marchauwtes .... them welcome. Than bad 
the mar .... at he sholde brynge in the meete. & . . . . myght go to 
dyner. And than the .... wyll. Than when the hoste and .... 
meet & set it theron & pray- .... gestes to them & syt downe togyder 
.... good chere al the daye longe with good honestey .... as very late 
with daunsynge & lepynge. And wh[an they h]ad done / the gestes 
toke theyr leue of the marchauntes, & thanked them for theyr good 
chere. And than euery man departed home to his house. And than 
cam the marchauntes to the hoste, & prayed hym hertely for to come 
in, & thanked hym that he had ordered & done all thynges so well and 
manerly. 

- "^ How two of the marchauntes / as Johan of [Florence] and Am- 
brosius of Jennen hyld one another .v. thousand golde guldens. 

wHan al the marchauwtes & the gestes had made merye togyder al 
the daye longe / at nyght the gestes toke theyr leue of the mar- 
cliauwtes / & thanked them for theyr good chere that they had made 
them / & so departed euery one to theyr lodgynge. And whan that 
they were departed euery man to theyr house / tha« wexed it late. 
And thare cam the hoste of the house to the marchaurates & asked them 
yf that they wolde go slepe / & they answered vnto theyr hoste "yes." 
And than toke he a candel, and brought the marchauntes into a fayre 
chambre / where was .iiij. beddes rychely hanged with costely curtaynes 
that euerye marchaunt myght lye by themselfe. And whan that they 
were all togyder in the chamber / than began they to speke of many 
thynges / some good / some bad, as it laye in theyr myndes. Than 
sayd Courant of spayne : " Syrs, we haue be all this daye mery, and 
made good chere, & euerye one of vs hath a fayre wyfe at home : howe 
fare they nowe at home, we can not tel." Tha??- sayd bourcharde of 
FrauMce to the other marchauntes: "What aske you how they do? 
They syt by the fycre, and make good chei'e and eate / & drynke of 
the beste, and laboure not at all / & so get they vnto tliem bote blode ; 
& than they maye take an other lusty yonge man, and do theyr plea- 
sure with hym, that we knowe not of/ for we be oftentymes long from 
them, & for that cause may ihv lenne^ a lofe, for a nede, secretly to an 
other." Than sayd Johan of Florence / "we may all well be called 
fooles & nydeates that trustc our wyfes in this maner as we do ; for a 
womaws hert is not made of so hard a stone but that* [it] wyll melte / 
for a womans nature is to be vnstedfaste and tourncth as the wynde 
dothe, and careth not for vs tyll the tyme that we come agayne. And 
we labour dayely bothe in wynde and rayne, and put often our lyues in 
iopardy and in auenture on the see, for to fynd them witAall ; & our 
wyfes syt at home, and make good chere witA other good felowes, & 

» [Sign. A. ii. (b).] ^ Leaf 2. Sign. A. iij. ^ they lend. 

* The signature is Frederyke of Jennen. 



xxviii Vll. Frederik of Gene. VIII. Syr Eglamoour. 

f{yue them parte of the money that we get. And therfore, au ye wyll 
do after ray counsayle / let euery one of vs take afayre wenche to passe 
the tyme ^\'^t7^al, as well as our wyfes do / & they shall knowe no more of 
that / than we knowe of them." Than sayde Ambrosius of Jennew to 
them : " By goddes grace, that shall I neuer do whyle tJiat I Ijue ! For 
I haue at home a good & a vertuous woman, and a womaulye. And 
I knowe [wel that] she is not of that dysposycyow / but thai she wil 
eschewe . . . of all suche yll abusyons tyl the tyme that I com home agayn. 
For I knowe well that she wyl haue non other man but me alone. 
And yf that I shold breke my wedlocke, than were I but lytell worthe." 
Than sayd Joh'n of Florence : " Felowe, ye set moche pryce by your 
wyfe at home, and truste her with all that ye haue. I wyll laye with 
you a wager of .v. thousande guldens, yf that ye wjd abyde me here, I 
shal departe, & ryde to Jennen, & do wzfc/i your wyfe my wyll." Than 
sayd Ambrosius to Johan of Florence : " I haue delyuered to my 
hoste .V. thousand guldens to kepe / put ye downe as moche agaynste 
it, & I shal tarye here tyll the tyme that ye retourne agayn from 
Jennen / & yf that you, by ony maner of menes, can get your pleasure 
of my wyfe, ye shall haue all this money." Than sayd Johan of 
Florence : " I am content / " and than putted he in his hostes hande 
other . V. thousande guldens agaynste Ambroses money. And than 
toke he 

[End of Fragment.] 

VIII. Sijr 'Eglamoour. Of this Eomance (translated also from the 
French) we have at least four manuscript copies : 1. in the Uni- 
versity Library, Cambridge, MS. Ff. ii. 38, printed in the Thornton 
Bomances for tiie Camden Society by Mr. Halliwell in 1844 ; 
2. (imperfect) in the Thornton MS. ; 3. in the British Museum, 
MS. Cotton. Calig. A. xii. ; 4. in the Percy Folio MS., printed in 
vol. ii. p. 341-389 of the Ballads and Bomances. (In the notes 
there I have mistakenly called the Cambridge MS. pi-inted in Mr. 
Halliwell's Thornton volume, the Thornton MS.) ; 5. A single 
leaf of another early copy, says Mr. Halliwell, is preserved in a 
MS. belonging to Lord Francis Egerton. 

Of old printed editions before 1575, the earliest that we know 
is in 1508, 'Sir Glamor, Edinburgh, be Walter Chepman and 
Andro Myllar,' of which au imperfect copy is in the Advocates' 
Library, Edinburgh. The other editions are London ones, not 
dated, by "William Copland, (a copy among Selden's books in the 
Bodleian), and by John "Walley (a copy in the British Museum) : 
and one of these, Captain Cox doubtless had. 

The story of the Romance is told by IMr. Halliwell in Ellis's 
Metrical Bomances, and by me in the side-notes of the Percy 
Folio print, and narrates how the poor knight Sir Eglamore loves 
Christabel, the fair daughter of the Earl of Artoys, and how he 



VIII. Syr Eglamoour. IX. Syr Tryamoour. xxix 

undertakes three Deeds of Arms to win her ; how accordingly he 
kills the giant Marrocke and a big Boar, a second Giant, and a 
Dragon near Rome ; how before marriage he begets a boy on 
Christabell, with which, when born, she is put out to sea alone in 
a ship, and a G-riffin flies away with the boy. She is driven to 
Egypt, her boy carried to Isarell, wliile Eglamore, mourning them 
both as lost, fights and dwells for 15 years in the Holy Land. 
Then his son, Degrabell, wins his own mother Christabell at a 
tournament, and weds her ; but before the marriage is consum- 
mated she discovers that Degrabell is her son, and their marriage 
void. At the second tourney, Eglamore wins his Christabell; 
they marry ; and rule Artoys. 

The romance oi Torrent of Portugal, edited by Mr. Halliwell, 
has almost the same incidents as Sir Eglatnore, and is a version of 
the same story. 

IX. Sijr Tryamoour. Mr. Halliwell edited this romance for the 
Percy Society in 184-6 from the earliest known MS. of it, of the 
time of Henry VI., in the Cambridge University Library, Another 
MS. of it is in the Bodleian Library ; and a third in the Percy 
Folio, printed in the P. F. Ballads and Sotnances, vol. ii. p, 
78-135. 

Of old printed editions we know only two, both without date, 
by Wyllyam Coplande: 1. 'imprinted at London in Temes strete 
\pon the thre crane wharfe,' of which a copy is among Garrick's 
books in the British Museum ; 2. ' imprinted at Loudon, — with 
a difierent cut on the title to that of the first ed., — of which a 
copy is among Selden's books in the Bodleian. To use, with little 
change, Mr. Hales's words, "the story tells how a good lord 
(Arradas) and his gentle lady (Margaret) were estranged by the 
treachery of their steward (Marrocke) ; how their son (Triamore), 
conceived in honour, was born in exile and shame ; how, after 
many a weary year, the execrable fraud was discovered ; and how, 
at last, the son (who has, in the meantime won himself a wife, 
the beautiful Helen of Hungary, by many doughty deeds of arms) 
and his mother, are happily united to the grieving husband." As 
the steed, Arundel, was so prominent a feature in Sir Eglamore, 
so in Sir Triamore is Sir Uoger's hound, who never leaves his 
master's grave, except to get food, and who bites that master's 
murderer, Marrocke, through the throat. Sir E-oger is the faith- 
ful old knight who accompanies the lady Margaret in her exile, 
till Marrocke kills him. 



XXX X. Syr Lamwell. 

X. Sffr Lamwell. The earliest form of this romance that we 
know, is Thomas Chestre's Syr Launfale in the Cotton MS. 
Caligula A. 2, leaf 33 etc., printed in Eitson's Early English 
Metrical Romances^, which is taken from No. 5 of Queen Marie's 
Lais, that Dr. Mall is about to re-edit. This version differs in 
form, and somewhat in matter, from the later MS. version printed 
from Bp. Percy's Eolio MS. in the P. F. Ballads and Bomances, 
i. 142. When the Introduction to the Percy Folio " Sir Lambe- 
well" was written (vol. i. p. 142), the incomplete copy of the 
Romance in the Eawlinson MS. C. 86, (about 1508 a.d. says Mr. 
Halliwell) was unfortunately overlooked, though Sir F. Madden 
had mentioned the piece in his description of the MS. in his Sir 
Gawayne for the Bannatyne Club. From this MS. twenty -nine 
lines — that which should be the 18th is left out in the MS — are 
now printed below, as a sample, from a copy made by Mr. George 
Parker of the Bodleian : — 

[Eawl. MS. C. 86. leaf 1195.] 

lanOabaU. 



W/t/« hym there was a Bachiller 
[And had hen there full many a year,] 
A yonge kynghte^ of mushe myght ; 
" Sir landevale " for-soithe he Mghte. 
Sir landevale spent hlythely, 
And yaf yeftes largely ; 22 

So "wildely his goode he sett, 
That he fell* yn grete dette. 
"Who hath no good, goode can he 

none, 
And I am hero in vnchut^ londe, 26 
And no gode haue vnder honde ; 
Men wille me holde for a wrecht^. 
Where I he-come, I ne reche." 
He lepe vpon a Couraier 30 



Sothly by Arthurys day 
was hretayne yn grete nohyle ; 
For yn hys tyme a grete whyle 
He soioiu-ned at Carlile ; 4 

He had wttA hym a meyne there, 
As he had ellys-where, [leaf 120.] 
Of the rounde table the kynght^-A" sMe, 
With myrthe and Joye yn hys halle. 
Of cache lande yn the worlde wyde 
There cam*; men on euerj syde, 10 
Yonge kynghte*^ and Squyers, 
And othir Bolde B[a]chelers, 
forto se that nobly 
That was wit A arthnr alk-wey ; 14 
for Ryche yeftys and tresour 
He gajrf to eache man of honour. 

[&c., about 530 11.— leaf 128. Ah. 1480 a.d.] 

We have now, therefore, five different versions, one whole, 4 in 
part, of the late Sir Lamwell— three are in the Percy Folio 
Ballads and Bomances — besides the earlier Romance printed by 
Ritson. 

Also, since the publication of the Percy Folio, the Librarian 
of Cambridge University has shown me a MS. fragment — a page 
and a quarter, about, — of a much scottified version of Sir Lamwell, 

' Also in Way's Fabliaux, ed. 1815, iii. 233-287, and Halliwell'a Fairy 
Mythology of a Midsummer Nighfs Bream 1845, p. 2-34. 

- So in MS. 3 Un-couth, unknown, strange. 



X. Syr Lamiuell. 



XXXI 



differing a little from both the versions printed in the Folio. 

It is entered in the Index to the Catalogue as " Arthur, on king, 

iii. 700," and is printed below : — 

[Sir Lamuell.] 

Nor quhair to go ! so god me saifF! 48 
And all the knichts with ther feires 
Oif the round table that be my peeres, 



12 



16 



Listine, Lordinga ! by the dayis off 

Arthure 
was Britan in greet honoure ; 
for in his tyme, as he ane quhyll 
he sojurneit att ooomelie carlille, 4 
& hed with him monie ane aire, 
As he hed oftymes els quhair — 
Off his round table the knyc^ti's all 
•with muche mirth in boure & hall, 8 
off evrie land in World so wyd, 
thar come to him in eich [a] syd ; 
joung knichtis, & squyers eik, 
& bald baichlers, came him to seik. 
for to sie the great Nobilnes 
that was into his court alwayis ; 
for he geve rich gifts & treasour 
to men of wair & gret honowr 
with him ther was ane baicheleir 
And hed beene thev monie ane jeir, 
Ane jouug IcnycM, mekill off micht ; 
' Sir Lamueir forsuith he hecht. 20 
this Lamuell geve gifts michtilie, 
& spaireit not bo' geve largeUe ; 
& so librallie he it spent, 
miche moir nor he hed in rent ; 
& so onvyselie he itt fett, 
that he came mekill into daitt. 
and quhen he sau weill all was gaine, 
then he began to mak his moane. 28 
" alas !" he said, " vo is that mann 
that na gud heth, nor na gud cann ! 
and I am far in ane ferang land, 
and na gud hes, I onderstand ! 32 
men wald me hald for ane wxache, 
Quhair I be piur certes, ne riche." 
he lapp upon ane fair coursoure, 
with-outtin Ohyld orjit squyoure, 36 
and raid so furth in great muming 
to dryve away his soir langing. 
his way he tmk tovard the west, 
betuix ane Vater and ane forrest ; 40 
the sone vas then in eveningtyd, 
he lichtit doun, & wald abyd. 
for he vas halt in the Wather 43 

he tuik his mantill, and fald to gidder. 
And laid him doune, MeknycAt so free, 
Onder the shadoii off ane tree : 
" Alace !" he said, " na gud I heve, 



24 



Eich on to heve me vas full glaid ; 
Nou will thai be off me fuU sadd ; 52 
Nou wallaway, this is my song." 
With soir weiping his hand he wrang, 
Vfiih sourou and cair he did jell. 
Till he vie on a sleip he fell, 56 

& all to soipeit and forweipt. 
Quhen he vakuit out off sleip, 
Tuo off the fairest maids sau he 
That ever he did sie with ee, 60 

Come out off the foiTest, & to him 

drau ; 
fairer befoir he never sau ; 
I&tils thay hed of purple sendill, 
Small laceit, setting fall ane weill ; 64 
Mantils thai hed of rid welvet, 
Prenjeit with gold ful veill was sett ; 
Thai vaire abowe that over all 
Upon ther beds a joilie cumall ; 68 
ther faces as the snou was quhyt, 
wi'tA Lufesimi cuUor off gret delyt ; 
fairar befoir he never did sie 
he thoght theia. Angels off hevins he. 
The on bair ane goldin baiseing, 73 
The uther ane touall off Alifyne ; 
Thai Came him both tovarid twaine ; 
he vas courtess, vent theia againe ; 76 
"Welcume!" he said, "Madams so 

frie." 
" Sir Knyc/it !" thai ansjcreit him, 

" Velcuw be \e ! 
My Ladie that is brigt as floure, 
The grathethe, Sir lamuell, para- 
mour ; 80 
Sho preyith the cum & speik with hir, 
jiff it be nou thy plesor, Sir." 
•' I am full faine with jou for to fair, 
for troulie, such as jou so rair, 84 
On the groimd sau 1 never go :" 
Washit his face and hands also, 
& -with the maids did glaidlie gang, 
As merie as marie in hir song. 88 
wj't/an the forest ther did sie 
Ane rich PaviUione thev picht ful hie. 
Ewrie pom.^ 



Cambridge JJrm^sity Library MS. Kk. 5, 30, leaf 11. 



* No more written. 



xxxii X. Syr Lamwell. 

The Eawlinson Landavall is more like the bit of printed version 
given to the Bodleian by Mr. Halliwell (and printed in the Ap- 
pendix to vol. i. of the Percy Folio,) tlian the text of the Folio 
itself. Mr. Halliwell says in his " Mythology of A Midsummer 
Nights Dream" 1845, that the copy of Lamwell mentioned by Sir 
F. Madden in the Lambeth MS. 305 " seems to be an error for 
the Lyleans Biscours in MS. No. 306." " The fabliau or romance 
of Lanval is printed in Le Grrand's Fabliaux et Contes, ed. 1829 ; 
and an English paraphrase of it appeared in ' Tales of the Twelfth 
and Thirteenth Centuries' translated from the French of Le 
Grand (? by George Ellis) 1796." (Hazlitt.) 

Of early printed editions of Sir Lamioell we know nothing ex- 
cept one fragment of 8 leaves, and another of one leaf, both in the 
Bodleian, and both printed in the Appendix to vol. i. of the Percy 
Folio Ballads and Eomances, p. 522-535. Perhaps the first of 
these is part of the edition licensed to John Kynge in 1557-8 : — 

To John Kynge, to prynte these bokes folowynge ; that ys to saye, a 
Jeste of syr guwayne' / the hoke of Carwynge and sewjTige^ / syr 
lamwell ; the boke of Cokerye ;^ the boke of nurture for mens sar- 
vauntes ;* and for his lycense he geveth to the hoiise 

As these old printed texts are more like the Percy Folio version 
than the Cotton one, we may sketch the story from the Percy 

MS. 

Among the knights who resort to king Arthur 'in merry 
Carlile' is the young Sir Lambewell. So prodigal is he of his 
money, that he soon has none left, and rides off westward alone, 
While he's sleeping under a tree, two lovely maidens wake him, 
and lead him to their lovelier mistress, the daughter of the king 
of Million or Amillion — Oleron, in Chestre's version, — who offers 
him all he wants, and lies with him that night. Next day she 
sends him back to Arthur, with plenty of money (and more to 
come), which he gives away right and left ; but if he ever mentions 
her name, he is to lose her for ever. Queen Guinevere makes 
advances to Lambewell, which he rejects ; and answers her taunts 

^ See below, p. xxxiv, No. XII. 

- A later edition of Wynkyn de Worde's book which was plagiarised from 
KusseU or his original. Both are in my Babees Book. 

3 A Proper New Booke of Cookery. Imprinted at London by John Kyngo 
and Thomas Marshe [1558], 12mo in Corpics Library, Cambridge. 

•* HughRhodes's Book, of which Jackson's edition of 1577 is reprinted in 
my Babees Book, with collations of Petyt's edition, before 1554. 

* The simi is not entei-ed. 



XL Syr Isenbras. xxxiii 

by saying that his mistress's lowest maiden is fit to be queen over 
her. For this she accuses him of trying to violate her; and he is 
adjudged to prove his boast about his mistress's maiden, or die 
Two ladies then ride up, ' much fairer than the summer's dayes ; 
then two others, fairer still ; at last ' a damsell by her selfe alone 
on earth was fairer neuer none.' She is Sir Lambwell's love ; she 
clears him of the charge against him, but speaks no word to him 
he has broken faith with her. In vain for him do Arthur and his 
knights plead. She turns to go alone ; but as she passes Lamb- 
well, he leaps on her palfrey, swearing he'll never leave her ; and 
in the 'jolly island' called Amilion, they live in bliss. 

XI. Syr Isenbras. This Eomance was printed by Mr. Halliwell 
from the Thornton MS. in Lincoln Cathedral Library, in his 
Thornton Eomanees for the Camden Society in 1844. Another 
copy is in the Library of Caius College ; and from that and the 
printed copy in Garrick's plays, now in the British Museum, 
Ellis sketched the story in his E. E. Metr. Eomanees. This old 
printed copy is without date, but ' Imprynted at London by me, 
Wyllyam Copland ;' and one leaf of a different edition is among 
Deuce's books in the Bodleian. 

Sir Isumbras is proud, and forgets Grod. An angel announces 
to him his degradation ; and, as from Job, his cattle and dwelling 
are taken by death and fire ; his wife and 3 children alone are left, 
naked. They start on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; their eldest 
boy is carried off" by a lion ; the second by a leopard ; the wife by 
a Saracen soudan ; the youngest boy by a unicorn, and his mantle 
by an eagle. Seven years Isumbras serves as a labourer and a 
smith, and then helps the Christians win a battle, and slays the 
Soudan who has taken his wife. Seven years he wanders in the 
Holy Land, and then an angel tells him his sin is forgiven. As 
a palmer he enters the palace of his wife, the widow-queen ; is 
there kindly treated, and takes ofl&ce ; and one day gets from an 
eagle's nest the mantle his youngest boy was wrapt in when he 
was carried off. This leads to his being made known to his wife, 
and his coronation as king of the Saracens, He tries to convert 
them, on which they all join two princes near, whom they have 
persuaded to invade him. "With his wife, Isumbras encounters 
the whole hosts, and they are about to perish, when three knights, 
who prove to be his 3 sons--one on a lion, the second on a leo- 
pard, the third on a unicorn, — come to the rescue, slay 23,000 of 



xxxiv XII. A Jeste of Syr Gawayne. 

the unbelievers, and rout the enemy. Taking the 2 princes' 
kingdoms for 2 sons, they conquer another country for the 3rd, 
and then have all the inhabitants of the new lands and Isumbras's 
baptized. 

XII. Syr Gawyn. " A Jeste of syr Gawayne " was, as we have 
seen (p. xxxii), licensed to John Kynge in 1557-8, but no part of 
his edition has reacht us. The last leaf only of another edition 
' Imprynted at London in Paule Churche yarde at the sygne of 
the Maydena heed by Thomas Petyt ' is in Bagford's Collections 
in the British Museum. Four leaves of another edition 'Im- 
prynted at London in Fletestrete at the sygne of Saynte Johan 
euangelyst by me Johan Butler' are in the Lambeth Library. 
This fragment was reprinted by Dr. S. E. Maitland in his List of 
Early Frinted Books at Lambeth, 1843, p. 297. Of the Scotch 
romance of Golagros and Gawene, an earlier but titleless copy of 
1508 is in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, and its colophon is 
' Heir endis the Knightly tale of golagrus and gawene [impreutit] 
in the south gait of Edinburgh be Walter Chepman and Andrew 
Millar the viii day of Aprile the yhere of god M. CCCCC. and viii 
yheris.' This, with all the other poems he could collect about 
Sir Gawain, Sir Frederick Madden edited for the Bannatyne Club 
in 1839. The most important of these poems is the very spirited 
and vigorous romance of Gawain and the Green Knight from the 
Cotton MS. Nero A x, which Dr. Eichard Morris has re-edited 
for the Early English Text Society, and of which a poor emascu- 
lated modernization (of the 16th century, as I suppose) is printed 
in the Percy Folio Ballads and Bomances, ii. 58-77, and in Sir E. 
Madden's Appendix No. III. p. 224-242. However, we may feel 
quite sure that the old black letter ' Jeste of Syr Gawayne ' was 
the one that Captain Cox read ; and as the printed fragments we 
possess of it agree, except in a few words, with the headless ver- 
sion that Sir E. Madden printed in his Syr Oawayne, p. 206-223, 
from a small 4to MS. of Douce's in the Bodleian, written in 1564, 
and containing several other romances, all "imperfect, and all, 
apparently, transcribed from early black-letter editions," we can 
get the story from this MS. Sir E. Madden also notices the last 
leaf of Petyt's edition among Bagford's Collections, MS. Harl. 
5927, art. 32, and says " It is no doubt this romance which is 
alluded to under the title of Sir Qawyn by Laneham. . . . The 
original author ... in this instance, as in so many others, is 



XII. A Jeste of Syr Gawayne. xxxv 

French ; and in the Roman de Perceval, fol. Ixxiv. h, we meet 
with the entire story." This, as Southey (Pref. to Morte d' Ar- 
thur, p. xxvi.), and Sir P. Madden {Syr Gawayne, p. 349-50) 
note, contains two different accounts of the opening of the tale, 
1. making the meeting between G-awayne and the maiden inno- 
cent, though judged guilty by her father and brothers ; 2, making 
it guilty (farther on in the work, by Gawayne's confession), as 
the English adapter made it. The story runs thus. 

G-awayne leaves Arthur at the siege of Branlant. After crossing 
a river and plain, and passing through a wood, G-awayne comes 
on a magnificent pavilion, in which, on a sumptuous bed, sleeps a 
lovely girl, Guinalorete, daughter of the king of Lys (or ' Syr 
Gylberte, a ryche earle,' as the English story calls him). Gawayne 
kisses her, and she threatens him with the vengeance of her 
father and brothers. But — and here the English fragment 
begins — Gawayne fears no threats, and takes his pleasure in the 
maiden. Her father finds them together, and reproaches and 
challenges Gawayne. They fight ; G-awayne unhorses and wounds 
the father, and goes back to the daughter. To the wounded father 
comes his son Syr G-yamoure, hears what has happened, calls up 
Gawayne from his sister's side, and fights him. But Syr Gya- 
moure is soon unhorsed and wounded too, and Gawayne returns 
again to G-uinalorete (whose name is given only in the Erench 
romance). Then comes Syr Gylberte's second son, Syr Tyrry, to 
his wounded father and brother. He too hears of Gawayne's 
misdeed, calls him from the Pavilion, fights him, but is unhorsed, 
and hurt, nigh to death ; and Gawayne goes back a third time to 
his sweet may in the pavilion. At last comes to the poor Syr 
Gylberte and his two wounded sons, the pride of their family, 
son Syr Brandies (or Brandels). The father tells him too of 
Gawayne's deeds ; Brandies calls Gawayne from the pavilion, and 
they fight so sore that both are glad to separate, vowing to renew 
the fight whenever they meet, " utterlye," or to the death. 
G-awayne puts up his sword and departs, asking only Brandies to 
' be frend to that gentle woman,' his sister. ' As for that,' says 
Brandies, — and here the Petyt leaf begins : — 



• She hath caused to day moch shame, 

parde ; 
It is pyte she hath her syght !" 
" Syr knight" sayd syr gawane "haue 

good day! 



For on fote I haue a long way ; 
An horse were me wonder dere. 
Somtyme good horses I haue good 

wone, 
But now on fote nedes must I gone ; 

d 2 



XXX VI 



XII. A Jesie of Syr Gawayne. 



God in haste amende my cliere ! 
Syr gawayne was armed passyng 

heuy, 
On fote might he not endure truelye : 
His knyfe he toke in honde, 
[H]is armoure good he cut hjon fro, 
Elles on fote mjght he not go ; 
Thus with care was he honde. 
(J Leue we now syr Gawayne in wo, 
And speake wc more of syr Brandies 

tho. 
When he with his syster met, 
[H]e sayd, " fye on the, harlot stronge ! 
[I]t is pyte that thou Ijniest so longe ! 
Strypes harde I wyl set, 
rA]ndbete the, both hacke and syde!" 
1 Ajnd then wolde he not ahyde ; 
But to his fader streyte he went. 
Then he axed hym how he fared ; 
[H]e sayd, " son, for the haue I cared, 
[I] wende that thou haddest ben 

shent." 
Brandies sayd, "I haue bet my syster; 
[A]nd the knyght, I made hym swere 
That, when we mete agayne, 
[H]e and I wyl togyder fyght 
Tjd we haue spended echo our myght, 
[A]nd that one of vs be slajoie." 
So home they went al togyder, 



\_BacJc of leaf.~\ 
And eche of them helped other 
As wel as they myght go. 
Then the lady gate her awaye ; 
They saw her neuer after that day ; 
■ She went wandrjTig to and fro. 
Also syr Gawayne, in his party, 
On fote he went ful weryly, 
Tyl he to the courte came home. 
Al this aduenture he shewed the kyng. 
That with those .iiii. knightes he had 

fighti//g. 
And eche after other alone. 
After that tyme they never met more ; 
Ful glad were these paityes Therfore ; 
So was there made the ende. 
I pray god gyue vs all good rest. 
And those that have harde this Ij'tle 

geste, 
And in hye heuen for to be dwellyng, 
And that we al, vpon domes day. 
Come to the blysse that lasteth aye. 
Where we may here the aungels 

synge. 

(J Imprynted at london in Paule[s] 

churche yarde at the s^ygne of 

the maydens heed, by 

Thomas Petyt. 



Over this, is a separate colophon of Petyt's (No. 31), dated 
' In the yere of our Lorde God. M. D. XLij.,' but it clearly does 
not belong to the Gawayne Jeaste. A duplicate of this colophon 
is on leaf 49 of Bagford's MS. No. 181. 

The Erench romance gives us the sequel of the Geste. It 
makes Brandelys and Gawayne meet and fight again. Guina- 
lorete, with her child Giglain, interposes between them twice ; 
and Brandelys, who has been struck down, is persuaded to yield, 
is made a Knight of the Round Table, and grants forgiveness to 
Gawayne, ' who begs it on his knees.' {Madden, p. 351.) 

Sir Thomas Maleore "the compiler of the Morte d' Arthur does 
not insert this episode in his work, but has a distinct allusion to 
the circumstance, when he says ' Thenne came in Syr Gawayne 
with his thre sous, Syr Gynyelyn, ^yv Florence, anA Sir Zioitel ; 
these two were hegoten upon Sir Brandyles syster ; and al they 
fayled.' — Yol. ii. p. 383. Sir Brandelys was subsequently, 
together with Florence and Louel, slain by Lancelot du Lac and 
his party, at the rescue of Queen Guenever. Ihid. ii. 401, 403." 
((S^r Qawayne, p. 351.) 



XIII. Olyaer of the Casil. xxxvii 

XIII. Ohjuer oftlie Casil. " T^ Historye of Olyuer of Castylle 
and the Eayre Helayne. [Colophon] Here endeth y*^ historye of 
Olyuer of Castylle, and of the fayre Helayne doughter vnto the 
kynge of Englande. Inpryuted at London in flete strete at the 
sygne of tlie Sonne by Wynkyn de Worde. The yere of our 
lorde M. CCCC. and xviij." "A Spanish Romance," says Mr. 
Halliwell, " very popular throughout Europe, and translated into 
most European languages." I have just looked at the ' Contents ' 
of Leys Coste's Eouen edition^ of ' L'Hystoire de Ollivier de 
Castille, et Artus d'Algarbe, Preux & vaillans Cheualiers, Auec 
les'-^ proesses de Henry de Castille, filz de Oliuier, et de Helaine, 
fille du Eoy d'Angleterre : et les grandes aduentures ou ilz se 
sont trainez centre leurs ennemys, comme pourrez voir cy apres," 
{Brit. Mus. "il^— ) and find that it tells how Oliver's mother-in- 
law lusts for Mm — " ce n'estoit que iragilite naturelle de femme, 
qui suit sa sensualitc cotttre honneur,' says the old Erench pub- 
lisher (?) in his ISpilogation — that he rejects her advances, goes 
to England, and — being armed by a knight to whom he promises 
half his prize — beats every one in a 3-days' tourney, the prize of 
which is ' la belle Helaine,' the lovely daughter of the King of 
England. Oliver tries to conceal himself, but is taken, and brought 
to the Court. Then he takes the King of England's side against 
the King of Ireland, who has invaded England. Oliver heads the 
English host, discomfits the Irishmen, follows them to their own 
country, brings back 7 kings prisoners, and is rewarded by fair 
Helen's hand. But soon the son of one of Oliver's Irish prisoners 
captures Oliver himself; and Artus of Algarbe, hearing this, 
comes to London, mistakes Helen for her husband, and lies by 
her, purely, and then rescues Oliver. Oliver however hears a 
wrong story of his wife and Artus, and wounds Artus ; but on 
learning the truth, prays forgiveness. Afterwards Artus falls ill, 
and to save him, Oliver kills his own two children, and gives their 
blood to his friend. This heals Artus ; God brings the children to 
life again ; and Artus and Oliver go to Castille. Then the knight 
who armed Oliver for his London tourney claims Oliver's son as 
his half of Oliver's prize ; but, seeing the grief of Oliver and 
Helen, restores them their boy, and vanishes into Heaven. 
Oliver then marries his daughter to Artus of Algarbe. Oliver 

* It is not dated, but the Museum Catalogue puts ? 1625. It is translated 
from the Latin, by P. Camus. Oriy. lee. 



xxxviii XIV. Lucres and Eurialus. 

aud Helen die ; their sou Henry is captured, and dies in the 
Saracens' land ; while Artus becomes King of Castille aud Eug- 
laud. 

XIV. Lucres and Eurialus. Tlie original of this E/omance was 
written in Latin by ^Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope 
Pius II., born 14^05, died 14 Aug. 1464.1 One copy of the edition 
of 1443, in the British Museum — which has another copy on 
vellum, aud others in the Pope's Works — has no title, but is 
headed " Enee Siluij poetse Senensis . de duobM^ amawtibus 
Eurialo et Lucresia . opusculum ad Marianum Sosinum feliciter 
Incipit prefatio." It has slieets a, b, c, d, in eights, and e in 
four ; and the Colophon is " Explicit opusculum Enee Siluij de 
duobus ama^tibus In ciuitate Leydensi Anno Domini Miliesimo 
CCCC° quadragesimo tercio . Leien." 

It was translated into Italian in 1554, " Epistole de Dvi Amanti 
composte dal fausto et eccellente Papa Pio tradutte in uulgare 
con elegautissimo modo. In Venetia per Matthio Pagan, in 
Erezaria all' insegna della Eede. M. D. LIIII." 

Of English editions we know three. 

1. (I The goodli / history of the most nohle / and beautyfull Ladye / Lucres of 
Scene in Tus/kane, and of her louer Eurialus verye / pleasaunt and / delectable / 
vnto y« / reder./ 4to, black letter, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, in fours ; but in 
the unique Museum copy, H iv, the last leaf, is wanting, containing the last 
verse of the envoy, or "Le. A. to the Eeder," and the Colophon. Mr. Hazlitt 
dates the book ' circa 1549.' 

Eor this copy in the British Museum I had 4 vain searches in 
the Catalogues, but then found it under ' Lucretia of Sienna,' 
Case 21. c. It has y very often for i of No. 2, and has better 
readings. Mr. Hazlitt says that Bagford speaks of an impression 
in 4to by William Copland, — perhaps the same as No. 3. 

2. Mr. Henry Huth has a unique copy of an edition in small 
8vo, dated 1560, 'imprinted at London by John Kynge,' (A B 
C D E E G H in eights) which he has kindly lent me, and from 
which the extracts below are printed, though collated for words 
with the Brit. Mus. ed. ; and 3. in the Pepys Library at Magda- 
len College, Cambridge, Mr. Hazlitt notes an edition of 1567, 



^ He -was an able man, but of loose morals, and spent the latter years of his 
life in extending the power of the Papacy, thus undoing much of the work 
of his earlier years when he strove to curb that power. He was on an em- 
bassy in Scotland, to make peace between the English and Scotch, when 
James I. was slain. Pius II. was a great patron of learning, and a bitter 
enemy of the Turks. 



XIV. Lucres and Eurialus. xxxix 

' Imprjnted at London in Louthbury by me Wyllyam Copland.' 
The date 1567 is no doubt right, as other books of W. Copland's 
are known as late. 

The story is a somewhat warm one for an embryo Pope to have 
written, though the moral of it is to warn men against unlawful 
love, as its pains are greater than its pleasures. As the verse 
envoy says : 



Yet coulde I shewe you of many other 

mo, 
Yf leyser not wanted, but now I let 

it pas, 
Wliiche by theyr loue were con- 

strayned also 



To mortal death ; more pitye alas ! 
therfore thys boke in Englysh drawe 

was 
For an example, therby to eschew 
the paynes of loue, ere after they it 

rewe. 



The interest of the book — such as it is — is the curious disclosure 
of the false notions of honour and right prevailing in Italian 
society in the middle of the 15th century. Its story is this : — 

When the Emperor Sigismund enters the town of Sienna in 
Tuscany, four ladies meet him, among whom. 

Lucres the yong Ladie, not yet of twenty yeres, shone in great bryghtnes, 
yong maryed, in the famyly of the Camilis, vnto a very rich ma?« named 
Menelaus, vnworthie too whom suche beautye shulde serue at home, but wel 
worthy e of his wyfe to be deceyued. The stature of the Lady Lucres was more 
hygher than the other. Her heare plenteous, and lyke vnto the goulde wyre, 
which hanged not downe behinde her, after the manner and custome of 
may dews, but in goulde and stone she had enclosed it ; her forhed highe, of 
semelye space, wythoute wrynkell, her browes be/(te, facioned with fewe 
heares, by due space deuyded, her eyne shining with such brightnes that, 
lyke as the sonne, they ouercame the behoulders loking ; with those she might, 
whome she woulde, slee, and slayne, whe« she wold, reuyue. Strayt as thriede 
was her noose, & by euen deuision parted ; her fayre chekes, nothyng was 
more amiable the;j these chekes, nor nothyng more delectable to behold, 
wherin, wha« she dyd laughe, appeared two proper pyttes', whiche no man did 
se, that wished not to haue kissed. Her mouth smal and comely, her lippes 
of corall colour, handsom to bite on ; her small tethe, wel set in order, semed 
Cristal, throughe which the quiueryng tonge dyd se«d furth, not wordes, but 
moost pleasaunt armony. What shall I shewe the beautye of her chynne, or 
the whitenesse of her necke ? No thyng was in that bodie not too bee praysed, 
as the outwarde aparauwces shewed token of that that was inwarde^ : no man 
beheld her that dyd not enuye her husbande. . . . Nothyng was more sweter, 
nor soberer, than her talcke. . . . Her apparell was diuers ; she wanted nether 
broches, borders, gyrdels, nor rynges. The abilimentes of her head was 
8u>wptuouse, many pearles, many diamantes, were on her fi;;gers and in her 
borders. (Sign. A. ii. back, to A. iiii. ed. Kynge ; A ii back to A iii, Brit. 
Mus. ed.) 

This young beauty, and Eurialus of Tuscany, a companion of 
the Emperor's, fall in love with one another at first sight, and 

^ pytes, Xynffe. 

2 of that was in warder, Kynge ; of that that was inwarde, Brit. Mus. ed. 



xl ~ ^IV. Lucres and Eurialus. 

desire one another, but are unable to meet. At last, Lucres 
trusts her secret to Zosias, an old Almayne servant of her hus- 
band's ; but he only pretends to deliver her messages, and puts 
her oif. Eurialus, unable to get another messengei", sends a letter 
to Lucres by a bawd. Lucres orders the woman off, and tears 
the letter in pieces before her ; but after she is gone, puts the 
pieces together, and reads the letter. A correspondence follows, 
and Lucres, holding back at first, at length consents to receive 
Eurialus into her house. But her hrother-in-laio's plan to admit 
him is frustrated by her mother, and then Eurialus is sent to 
Rome for 2 months. Lucres mourns ; but on his return, his ser- 
vant finds him a tavern near, out of whose window he can talk to 
Lucres. Zosias is then convinced that as the love will go on, it 
must be kept secret ; and he lets Eurialus in, disguised as a porter, 
among other men carrying wheat. Eurialus takes Lucres in his 
arms. Her husband comes ; she hides Eurialus first in one closet 
and then, by a trick, in another, till Menelaus her husband has 
gone, and the lovers are left alone : — 

Lucres was in a lyghte garmente, that without plyght or wrynkell shewed 
her hodye as it was, a fayre necke, and the lyght of her^ eyne lyke the bryght 
Sonne, gladsome cou«tenaunce and a merj^e face, her chekes lyke lylyes 
medled wyth roses ; swete and sober was^ her laughyng, her breast large, and 
the two papes, semjmge apples gathered in Venus gardaiae, meued the courage 
of toucher.* (Sign. E. iiii. back, Kynge's ed. ; E. ii. Brit. Mus. ed.) 

The lovers meet again for an hour when Lucres's husband has 
gone to the country, and Zosias brings in Eurialus from the hay- 
loft. Then, as no other chance of meeting is open to them, 
Eurialus has recourse to Menelaus' s cousin, Pandalus, to arrange 
a meeting for them. Eurialus shows him that if he doesn't do 
this, Lucres will either kill herself or run away with him, and 
thus bring open scandal on her family and her husband's : 
whereas, if he'll manage the matter quietly, nothing will be known, 
no harm will be done, but great good, and Eurialus will get the 
Emperor to make Pandalus an Earl ! So one night, when Mene- 
laus is away. Lucres lets Eurialus into the house, swoons from 
excitement, but recovers, and they spend the night together. 

After long waiting, they avoid Lucres's watchers, and often 
meet; but then the Emperor determines to go to Eome, and 
Lucres proposes to Eurialus to carry her off with him. He how- 

^ Kynge leaves out ' her.' - as, Eynge. thoucher, Eynge. 



XI l^. Lucres and Eurialus. XV. VirgiVs Life. xli 

ever declines to face the scandal and danger of this, hoping to be 

able to come back to her soon. But the separation makes hira 

fall ill ; and when he does get back to Sienna, he can only see 

Lucres from the street, and write letters to her. She shortly dies 

of grief ; he loses all pleasure in life, 

& yet, though the Emperour gaue hyta in mariage a right nohle and 
excellente Ladye, yet he neuer enioicd after, but in conclusj'on pitifully wasted 
his painful lyfe. 

The fruitless attempt of another knight, Pacorus, to make love 
to Lucres, is told in the little book, which shows how corrupt and 
false the ideas on love of Italian gentlemen and ladies of the time 
must have been.i Two extracts from the book, on Italian women, 
and servants, are given in the Notes to my edition of Andrew 
Boorde's Introduction and Dyetary etc. for the Early English Text 
Society, Extra Series, 1870. 

"We are also indebted to another original of Pope Pius II. 's for 
another English translation : 

' Here begynneth the Eglogues of Alexander Barclay, preest, 
whereof the fyrst thre conteyneth the myseryes of courters and 
courtes, of all pryuces in generall. The matter wherof was trans- 
lated into Englyshe by the sayd Alexander, in fourme of Dialoges, 
out of a boke named in Latin Miseria curialimn, compyled by 
^neas Silvius, Poete and Oratour, whiche after was Pope of 
Rome, and named Pius.' Colophon : ' Thus endeth the fourthe 
Eglogge of Alexandre Barcley, conteyning the manors of riche 
men anenst poetes and other clerkes. Emprinted by Kicharde 
Pynson, printer to the kyiiges noble grace.' 4to, black letter, 22 
leaves, with woodcuts. 

XV. VirgiVs Life. Not that of the E,oman poet Publius Vir- 
gilius Maro, but of his Middle-Age representative, when he 
(Virgil) was turned into a Magician : " This Boke treateth of the 
Lyfe of Virgilius, and of His Deth, And Many Maruayles that he 
dyd in hys Lyfe Tyme by Whychcraffce and JSTygramancye thorough 
the helpe of the Deuyls of Hell. [Colophon] Thus endethe the 
lyfe of Virgilius, with many dyuers consaytes that he dyd. Em- 
prynted in the cytie of Anwarpe By me Johan Doesborcke 
dwellynge at the camerporte [circa 1520] 4to, 30 leaves. Bod- 

^ A wife's brother-in-law, and her husband's cousin, both help her to com- 
mit adiiltery ; lust, called love, is held more binding than marriage ; women's 
passions alone are their guide ; waves are watched like criminals ; and every 
married woman is fair game. 



xlii - XV. Virgil's Life. 

leian (Douce)" — HazliU} Another edition — " the booke of Vir- 
gil! " — was licensed to William Coplande in 1561-2,'^ and is no 
doubt the incomplete copy among Grarrick's books in the British 
Museum. Mr. Thorns says that this edition is so imperfect that 
he couldn't reprint it, and he had therefore to take Mr. Utterson's 
reprint of Doesborcke's, which was of course more handy, and 
saved trouble. This {Tlioms, ii. 21-59) tells us that Virgilius 
was the son of a ' knyght of Champanien ' and the daughter of a 
Eoman Senator, and was born in the days of the grandson of 
Eemus, whose father slew his uncle Romulus. The boy learnt 
necromancy from books which he was shown by a devil, who 
wriggled out of a hole in a hill when Virgil pulled out a board 
there. The devil had been conjured and shut up there, out of a 
man's body, till the Judgment-day ; and Virgil, having got his 
books, bet the Devil he couldn't wriggle into the hole again. 
But the Devil did it, and then Virgil shut him up again. Virgil 
then taught at Tolenten, came to Rome to recover his heritage, 
which he did by miraculous magic, shutting up his castle and 
lands in fixed air, making the Emperor Perseydes and his army 
lift their feet up and down in the same place for a day, etc. 
Then he made love to the fairest lady in E-orae, and was by her 
hung out — like Hippocras (see my haint GraaT) — in a basket 
half-way up her tower, for which he revenged himself by making 
the angle between her legs, she being set on a scaffold, the only 
place where a light could be got for 3 days in E-ome. Then he 
married a wife ; then he made a set of idols for all the countries 
subject to Rome, so that when any of the countries were going to 
rebel, its idol rang a bell, and gave the Senators notice. Then be 
made a copper horse, man, and dogs, to hunt and kill all the 
thieves and night-walkers in Roiue ; then an ever-burning lamp ; 
then the goodliest orchard in the world ; then an image that 
deprived of lust every woman that lookt at it, which Virgil's wife, 
at the Eoman women's request, twice cast down, for which Virgil 
hated her, and left the women to work their will. Then he 
indulged in the Sedan's daughter, whom he carried oft' by a bridge 
of air ; and, when caught on his second visit, delivered himself by 
magic, carried the lady away, and built Naples for her ; * and the 
fundacyon of it was of egges.' Then the Emperor of Eome 

^ This was reprinted by Utterson, and for Pickering in 1827, in Mr. TJioms's 
Early Prose Romances, a work revised and reprinted in 1858. 
' Stationers' Kegister A, leaf 73 back; Collier's Stat. Beg. i. 47, 



XVI. The Castle of Ladiez. XVII. Wido Edyth. xliii 

besieged Naples, and Virgil delivered it, and peopled it with 
scholars and merchants. Then he made a metal serpent to bite 
off false-swearers' hands ; but an artful woman evaded the punish- 
ment, and Virgil destroyed his serpent. Lastly, he made a won- 
derful castle, and told his man to cut him in pieces, salt him, and 
let oil drop from a lamp for 9 days on him, so that he might get 
young again. But just before the charm was completed, the 
Emperor killed the man who lookt after the lamp ; on which, a 
naked chylde — the new Virgil, underdone, no doubt — ran 3 times 
round the barrel, saying " cursed be the tyme that ye cam euer 
here," and vanished ; " and thus abyd Virgilius in the barell, dead." 
On the legend, Mr. Thoms's Introduction, vol. ii. p. 1-17, may 
be consulted. 

XVI. The Castle of Ladiez. " Here begynneth the Boke of 
the Cyte of Ladyes the which boke is devyded into iii partes. 
The fyrst parte telleth how & by whom the wall & the cloystre 
about the Cyte was made. The seconde parte telleth how & by 
whom the Cyte was buylded within & peopled. The thyrde 
parte telleth how & by whom the hygh battylments of the towres 
were parfytely made" &c. No place or date. ^to. Dibdin 
{Ames ii. 378) calls the copy he saw, a very ' curious and amusing 
volume,' says that it's in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and 
gives an extract from the first chapter which doesn't show the 
character of the book at all. Mr. Hy. Huth has another copy of 
the book, which was originally in Mr. F. S. Ellis's hands, incom- 
plete, but Mr. Lily completed it by a facsimile page. Mr. Huth 
is unluckily in the country when this sheet goes to press ; but on 
his return he will enable me to report on the book and its story 
in my Notes, and settle whether Laneham's Castle of Ladiez is this 
Cyte of Ladyes. If it is not, the Castle is not now known to biblio- 
graphers. 

XVII. The Wido Edyth. Of this, before Laneham's time, we 
know two editions, 1. John Eastell's in 1525, ' Enprynted at 
London at the sygne of y^ Meremaid at Polls gate next to Chepe 
syde The yere of our Lord. M. V. C. XXV. The xxiii. day of 
March,' of which a copy is at Wentworth,^ 

" The Widow Edyth. XII mery gestys of one called Edyth 

The lying Wydow whych yet still lyueth." 

^ Of this edition not more than 3 copies axe known. It extends to sign. 
D. iii. Hazlitt's Jest Books, 3rd series, p. 28. 



xliv - XV 11. The., Wido Edijth. 

2. Eicharde Johnes's : " XII mery Jests of the wyddow Edyth. 
1573 :" and this gives the supposed author's name " Finis, by 
"Walter Smith." Copies are in the Bodleian, and in Mr. Hy. 
Huth's library. Mr. W. C. Hazlitt reprinted the 1573 edition 
in his capital collection of Early Jestbooks 1860, 3rd series, p. 27. 
The Jests are anecdotes of how "Widow Edyth cheated people by 
representing herself to be a rich widow ; and the poem is written 
by one Walter Smith, — seemingly a servant of Sir Thomas More's 
at Chelsea — one of her lovers. The list of the Twelve Jests from 
Mr. Hazlitt's reprint will be, perhaps, enough account of the 
book: 

The first mery Jest declareth, how this, faire and merye Mayden 
Edith was maryed to one Thomas Ellys, and how she ran away 
with another, by whom she had a bastard Doughter, and how she 
deceiued a G-entleman, bearynge him in hand how her Doughter 
was Heire to faire Landes and great Rich esse. 

The second mery Jest : how this lying Edyth made a poore man 
to vnthatch his House, bearyng him in hand that she wold couer 
it with Lead: and how she deceiued a Barbour, makyng him 
beleue she was a widow, and had great aboundance of Gooddes. 

The thyrd mery Jest: how this wydow Edyth deceiued her 
IToste at Hormynger, and her Hoste at Brandonfery, and borowed 
money of them both, and also one mayster Guy, of whome she 
borrowed iiii. Marke. 

The fourth mery Jest, how this wydow Edith deceiued a Doctor 
of diuinitie, at S. Thomas of Akers in London, of v. IS'obles he 
layd out for her, and how she gaue hym the slyp. 

The fifth merye Jest : how this wydow Edyth deceiued a man 
and his wife that were ryding on Pylgremage, of iiii Nobles that 
they laid out for her; and how she deceiued a acriuener in Lon- 
don, whose name was M. Eowse. 

The sixt merye Jest : how this wydowe Edyth deceiued a Draper 
in London of a new Gowne and a new Kyrtell ; and how she sent 
hym for a Nest of Gobblets and other Plate to that scriueuer 
whome she had deceiued afore. 

The vii mery Jest : how she deceiued a seruant of Sir Thomas 
Neuells, who in hope to haue her in Mariage, with al her great 
richesse, kepte her company tyl al his money was spent j and then 
she tooke her flight, and forsooke him. 

The eight mery Jest : how this wydow Edyth deceyued a ser- 



XV 11. The Wido Edyth. xlv 

uaunt of the Bysshop of Eochesters, with her coggynge, and 
boastynge of her great Eichesse; who like wise tliought to liaue 
had her in Maryage. 

The ix mery Jest : how she deceived a Lord, sow-tyme Earle of 
Arm?dell : and how he sent v. of his men seruantes and a hand- 
maid to here her company, and fetch her Daughter, who, as she 
boasted, was an Heire of great Landes. 

The tenth merye Jest : how she deceiued three youg men of 
Chelsey, that were seruantes to Syr Thomas More, and were 
all three suters vnto her for Maryage : and what mischaunce 
happened vnto her. 

The xi. mery Jest : how she deceiued three yong men of the 
Lord Legates seruants, with her great liyng, crakyng, and boastyng 
of her great Treasure and Jueiles. 

The xii. merye Jest: how this wydow Edyth deceyued the good 
man of the three Cuppes in Holburne, and one John Cotes : and 
how they both ryd with her to S. Albans to ouersee her houses 
and landes : and how thei were rewarded [or sold, and had to ride 
back to London, the widow having slipt away from them : " God 
saue the Wydow, where euer she wende !" says the forgiving 
Smith in his last line]. 

Walter Smith, the writer of the poem, comes-in in 'the Tenth 
mery Jest ' (p. 75). The widow, after takiug-in the Earl of 
Arundel, stops at Elthain for 3 weeks and a day, then walks to 
a thorp [village] called Batersay, takes a wherry, and is rowed 
over to Chelsea, where she is housed at Sir Thomas More's. 
There she boasts so of her property at Eltham — 2 worsted looms, 
2 mills, a brewery, 4 plows, 15 men-servants, 7 maids, etc. etc. — 

' That three yong men she cast in a heat. 
Which seruants were in the same place, 
And all they woed her a good jaace.' 

The first was Thomas Croxton, servant to Master Alengton ; the 
second Thomas Arthur, servant to Master Eoper — Sir Thomas 
More's son-in-law ; and the third was Walter Smith, who dwelt 
at Chelsea. After the widow has gammoned Croxton and Arthur, 
Smith meets her in the cloister, takes her in his arms, kisses her, 
and tells her how he loves her. She says she loves him, and that 
when she comes to Chelsea again, she'll bring him a crucifix of 
pure gold as a remembrance of her ; 

Tha« Wa[l]ter stode on tipto, and gan him self avance ; 
" I thank you," quod he, " enen with all my hart." 
He kissed her deliciously, and then dyd depart. 



xlvi XVIII. The King and the Tanner. 

She comes back to Chelsea the same night; but by then, Thomas 
Arthur has found out what an impostor she is ; and they play her 
a trick, put ' Pouder Sinipari ' in her food, give her a violent 
purging, and then get her put in jail for 3 weeks, 

XVIII. The King and the Tanner. The notice of the earliest 
printed edition of this short story is in the Stationers' Register A, 
leaf 116 back, (Collier, i. 99) 

W greffeth Eeceaved of William greffeth, for his lycense for pryntinge of a 
boke intituled " the story of kynge henry the iiij'*" and the Tanner 
of tamworth " iiij** 

But no copy of this is now known. The earliest printed copy we 
know is that by Danter in 1596, which Percy cookt sadly in his 
Beliques, ii. 91, ed. 1812, where it is called '' A merry, pleasant 
and delectable history between King Edward the Fourth and a 
Tanner of Tamworth." Heywood also took Edward as the hero 
of the ballad, and used its incidents in his Edward the Fourth, 
Shakespere Society, 1842 {Collier). The earliest copy of the 
ballad known to us is a strongly provincial one in the MS. More 
Ee, 4, 35, in the University Library, Cambridge, which has been 
printed by Eitson in his Pieces of Ancient Popular Poetry, 1791, 
and by Mr. W. C. Hazlitt in his Select Remains of the Early 
Popular Poetry of England, 1864, i. 1, as " The King and the 
Barker." It does not name its king, and makes its tanner one of 
' Dantre ' or Daventry in Warwickshire, but tells the same story as 
Danter's copy of 1596 : ' The kyng ' overtakes a tanner riding a 
cob, and sitting on a lot of black cow hides ; the tanner takes the 
king for a thriftless scamp, and then for a thief, when he sees the 
king's men ; but they talk together, and when Lord Basset kneels 
to the king, the tanner is afraid for his life. Then the king changes 
his high horse for the tanner's low one, to go hunting under the 
branches ; the tanner puts his cowhides on the king's saddle, their 
horns prick the horse, and he breaks the tanner's head against 
the bough of an oak. The king laughs ; they change horses 
again ; the tanner promises the king a drink the next time they 
meet in Daintry, and the king gives him a hundred shillings. 

Ballads and stories of like kind to this are ' John de Reeve ' 
and the ' Kinge and Miller ' in the Percy Folio Ballads and Ro- 
mances, vol. ii. 147, 559, ' Rauf Coilzear,' ' King Edward and the 
Shepherd,' ' The King and the Hermit,' etc. In the East as well 
as the West, the subject of kings mixing familiarly with their 



XIX. Frier Rous. xlvii 

poor subjects has been popular ; Haroun-al-Rasehid, as well as 
King Alfred, is an instance of it. See Percy's and Prof. Child's 
introductions to ' Edw. IV. and the Tanner of Tamworth,' etc. 

XIX. M-ier Boiis. No copy of this book is known before 1620, 
but Collier, i. 199, gives this entry from the Stationers' Register A 
(on leaf 179,) 

Aide Pj of John Aide, for liis lycense for pryntinge of a boke intituled 
" Freer Russhe " iiij'' 

As John Aide's son Edward issued the edition of 1020, which is re- 
printed in Thoms's Early Prose Romances, vol. i. p. 261, ed. 1858, 
it is probable that the later edition did not differ much from the 
one that Captain Cox read. " The Historic of Frier Rush : How 
he came To A House of Religion to Seeke Service, and Being 
Entertained by The Priour, was Eirst made Under Cooke. Being 
EuU of Pleasant Mirth and Delight for Young People," tells 
how Rush (or Puck, or Robin Goodfellow,) is ' a divell ' sent by 
Belphegor, Asmodeus, and Beelzebub, as a servant into a Monas- 
tery, where he brings to the Prior a fair young gentlewoman, and 
to all the monks the women they most desire ; throws the 
Cook into a kettle of boiling water, for beating him ; gives the 
friars bacon in their pottage on fast-days ; makes truncheons for 
them and sets them all by the ears, so that they have a regular 
fight, ending with broken heads, arms, and legs ; puts tar instead 
of grease to the Prior's waggon- (or carriage-) wheels, makes him 
pay for wine he doesn't drink ; breaks the dormitory stairs, so 
that all the friars come tumbling on one another as they go to 
matins ; and cuts a farmer's cow in two, and cooks one half for 
the friars. Then comes the old episode of the Devils meeting 
and reporting their deeds, and he who's made the Religious sin, 
getting highest praise^ : but the farmer overhears the reports, tells 
the Prior that Rush is a devil, and he is accordingly turned out. 
He turns better ; goes as servant to a husbandman whose wife is 
unfaithful with the Priest ; and then catches the Priest hidden, 
first in a chest, afterwards in some straw, and lastly in a basket 
hung up by a rope. Rush throws the Priest on the dunghill, 
whacks him, drags him through a pool, and through the town, at 
his horse's tail. He does the husbandman's heavy work in a 
trice ; gets another devil conjured out of a girl's body by his friend 

' See K. Brunne's Eandlyng Synne, Dan Michel's Ayenbite of Inwyt^ etc. 



xlviii XIX. Frier Rous. XX, Howleglas. 

the Prior, carries a load of lead up to the Prior's church-roof, flies 
home with the Prior on his back ; and then the Prior " com- 
maunded him to goe into an olde castle that stood farre within 
the forrest, and never more to come out, but to remaine there for 
ever. Prom which Devill and all other Devills, defend us good 
Lord ! Amen !" 

XX. Soivleglas. Of this work we know of three different edi- 
tions by Wjllyam Copland, though of each only one imperfect 
copy has survived. One copy has no colophon ; the other two were 
printed after Wyllyam Coplande had left his predecessor Eobert's 
old house, the Kose Oarland in Fletestrete. The first of these, that 
in the Brit. Mus., was ' Imprynted at London in Taraestreto at the 
Vintre on tlio three-Craned Wharfe ;' the second, or Bodleian copy, 
was 'Imprinted at Lothbury;' where W. Copland printed from 
1562-o(see my Booi-de Forewords, p. 19) to 1567 (see above, p. xxxix). 
The earliest ed. must have borne date after 1547 (the latest date of 
Eobert Coplande's books) or 1548 (the earliest date of Wyllyam 
Coplaude's). To Mr. Collier is due the credit of having brought the 
Lothbury edition to public notice,and of having shown that the Bod- 
leian copy was possibly the poet Spenser's, and lent by him to Gra- 
briel Harvey^ {Bibliographical CaifaZ.i. 379-381). The title is "Here 



1 [4°. Z. 3. Art. Seld. (Bodl. Libr.) last page, Lack of Colophon.] 
This Howletglasse, with Skoggin, Skelton, & L[a]zariIl[o], giuen me at 
London, of Mr. Spensar / xx. Decembris, 1[5]78. on condition [y' I] shoold 
bestowe y^ reading of them ou[er] before y^ first of January, j[med]iatly en- 
suing : otherwise to forfeit unto him mj^ Lucian jn fewer iiolumes. Where- 
upon I was y"^ rather jmluced to trifle away so many howers, as were jdely 
ouerpassed jn running thorowgh y^ f[oresai]d foolish bookes : wherein me- 
thowg[h]t not all fower togither seemed comparable for s[utt]le & crafty 
feates with Jon Miller / whose witty shiffces, & practises ar rep[o]rted 
amongst Skeltons Tales. [Dyce's Skelton's Works, vol. i, p. lx\a.] 

[i« the same hatid, previous page^ but crossed through ivith the pen : — " Skel- 
tons only Jon Miller, worth all Howletglasse, Skoggin, and Skelton besyde."] 
The book, says Mr. Gr. Parker, has evidently been read through, as man}' 
passages are underlined, and crosses and strokes occm- in the margin ; and in 
the Table, at end, there are lines, crosses, and notes, all by the same hand. 
Table. Thus : — Sow howleglas xoold flye fro a house top. [j¥"*S'. note^ Skoggins 
patterne. 
„ after chapt. 12, is added in MS. 

A miracle upon y*^ hault, & lame. Ide«i jn Mensa philoso- 
f)hica 
„ on the next page blynde \MS. note]. 

how howleglas gaue, xx, gyldens to, xii, poore men for Christes 
loue, 
„ next line A great braggadocia [MS. note], 

how howleglas feared his host w' a dead imidfe. 



XX. Howleglas. xlix 

beginnethe a merye Jeste of a man called Howleglas, and of many 
maruelous thinges and Jestes that he dyd in his lyffe in Eastlande 
and in many other places." The book is sm. 4to, without date, 
printed by Copland. 2 copies of tMs work are in the British 
Museum. Here are the Prologue and Contents : — 

The Prologue. — For the great desyryng and praying of my good 
frandes,^ — and I the first writer of this boke might not denye them, 
— Thus haue I comp[y]led^ & gathered much knauyshnes & 
falsnes of one Howleglas, made and done within his^ lyfe, whiche 
Howleglas dyed the yeare of our lorde God. M. CCCC. &. L.* 
Nowe I desyre to be pardoned both before ghostly & worldly, 
afore highe & lowe, afore noble and vnnoble. And right lowly 
I requyre all those that shall reade or heare this presewte leste, 
my ignorau^ice to excuse. This fable is not but only to renewe 
the mindes of men or women of all degrees ivom the vse of sad- 
nesse, to passe the tyme with laughter or myrthe, And forbecause 
the simple knowyng persones shuld beware if folkes can see. 
Me thinke it is better to^ passe the tyme with suche a mery leste, 
and laughe there at, and doo no synne, than for to wepe, and do 
synne. 

Contents. — Howe Howleglas, as he was borne, was christened 
iii. tymes vpon one day. How Howleglas aunswered a man that 
asked the hyghe waye. How that Howleglas sat vpon his fathers 
horse, behynde hym. How Howleglas fell fro the rope into the 
water. How Howleglas mother learned hym, awd bad him go to a 
craft. How Howleglas got bread for his mother. How Howle- 
glas was stolen out of a bye-hyue by nyght. How Howleglas was 
hyred of a pryest. How Holeglas was made a paryshe clarke. 
How Howleglas wold flye fro a house-top. How Howleglas made 
hymselfe a physicion, and how he begyled a doctour with hys 
medicines. How Holeglas made [that] a sicke chylde shylde 
shyte, that afore myght not shyte, and howe he gat great worship 
therof. How Howleglas made hole all the sycke folke that were 
in the hospytall, where the spere of our lord is. How Howleglas 
was hyred to be a bakers seruawt. How Howleglas was put in 
wages with the foster of Anhalte, for to watche upon a tower to 
se wha?t his enemies came, and than for to blowe an home to 



frendes, B. ^ compled, A ; compyled, B. ^ dis, B. 

The end of the book says ' M. CCC. & iyftie.' « no, A ; to, B. 



1 XX. Howleglas. XXI. Gargantua. 

warne them therof. How Howleglas wan a great deale of mony 
wyth a poynt of foolyshnesse. How the duke of Lunenborough 
banyshed Howleglas out of his lande. How Howleglas set his 
hostyse vpon the hoote asshes with her bare arce. How Howle- 
glas toke vpon hym to be a paynter. How Howleglas had a great 
disputacion with all the douctours of Pragem in Bemen. How 
Howleglas became a pardoner. How Howleglas did eate for 
money in the towne Banberbetehe. How Howleglas wewt to 
E/ome to speke wz't^ the pope. How Howleglas deceived iii. 
Jewes with durt. How Howleglas had gotten the persons horse 
by his confession. How Howleglas was hyred of a blacke smyth. 
How Howleglas was hyred of a shoemaker. How Howleglas 
serued a tayler. How Howleglas solde turdes for fat. How 
Howleglas through his subtle disceytes deceyued a wyne drawer 
in Lubeke. How Howleglas became a maker of Spectacles, and 
howe he could fynde no worke in no lande. How Howleglas was 
hyred of a marchaunt man to be his cooke. How howleglas was 
desyred to dyner. How howleglas wane a piece of cloth, of a man 
of the country. How howleglas gave xx. gyldens to .xii. poore 
mew, for Christes loue. How howleglas feared his host wit7« a 
dead woulfe. How howleglas flied a hound, and gaue the skyn for 
halfe hys dynner. How howleglas serued the same hostise another 
tim[e], and laye on a whele. How Howleglas serued a holawder 
viith a rested aple. How Howleglas made a woman that sold 
erthen pottes to smyte them all in pieces. How Howleglas brake 
the stayres that the munkes shulde come down on to matyns, and 
how thei fell downe into the yarde. How Howleglas bought 
creame of the women of the cuntrey that brought it for to sell. 
How Howlegl[a]s came to a scholer, to make verses with him to 
the vse of reason. How Howleglas was secke at Molen^, and how 
he dyd shyte in the poticaries boxes, and was borne in the holy 
ghoste. How Howleglas deceiued his ghostly father. How 
Howleglas made his testament. How Howleglas was buried. 
d Thus endeth the lyfe of Howleglas. 
XXI. Gargantua. ' The History of Gargantua, a romance trans- 
lated from Rabelais, and alluded to by Shakespeare. A book entitled 
" The History of G-aragantua," was entered on the books of the 
Stationers' Company in 1594, but there was no doubt a much 
earlier edition. The author of Harry White's Humour, 1640, 

' Mr. Halliwell prints ' moten.' 



XXII. Rubin Hood. li 

" is of this opinion, that if the histories of Garagantua and Tom 
Thumbe be true, by consequence, Bevis of Hampton and Scoggin's 
.Tests must needes be authenticall." ' — Hallhcell, p. 14. Eabelais 
was born about 1483 ; he began to publish his G-argantua and 
Pantagruel in parts in 1535 ; and he died in 1553, As we have 
no notice of an English translation before 1575, it is possible that 
Laneham had seen the French original in his travels, and spoke 
of that here, without thinking whether Captain Cox knew French 
or not. 

XXII. Bolin Hood. The entries before 1575 under this head- 
ing in Mr. Hazlitt's Handbook, are 

1. A geste of Eobyn hode. (A very imperfect copy of an edition 
from the press of W. Chepman and A. Myllar, circa 1508, in 4to, 
black letter, is in the Adv. Lib. Edinb. A perfect exemplar should 
consist of — leaves.) 

2. (a.) Here begynneth a lytell geste of Eobyn hode. (Colo- 
phon) Explycit. Kynge Edwarde and Eobyn Hode & Lytell 
Johan. Enprented at London in Flete strete at the sygue of the 
sone By Wynken de Worde. n. d. 4to, 32 leaves. With a 
woodcut on the title page, and Caxton's device at end. In verse. 
Public Library, Cambridge (held to be unique). 

(h.) A lytell Geste, etc. 4to, black letter. Printed with the 
same types as W. de Worde's edits, of Meraorare Novissiraa and 
Thordynary of Christen men. Bodleian (Deuce's fragm.). 

(In a bookseller's Catalogue for 1865 were several leaves of this 
tract, ascribed to Pynson's press, but query.) 

3. (a.) A mery geste of Eobyn Hoode and of hys lyfe, wyth a 
newe playe for to be played in Maye games very plesaunte and 
full of pastyme. (This title is over a woodcut of Eobin Hood 
and Little John.) (Colophon) Thus endeth the play of Eobyn 
Hode. Imprinted at London vpon the thre Crane Wharfe by 
wyllyam Copland, [ab. 1561.] 4to, black letter, 34 leaves, or J 2, 
in fours. Br. Museum (Garrick). (The Geste commences on the 
back of the title page, thus ; Here begynneth a lytell geste of 
Eobyn hoode and his mery men, and of the proude shyryfe of 
Notyngham : concluding on H 2 recto with, ' Thus endeth the 
lyfe of Eobyn hode.' On H 2 verso begins the Play, and occupies 
9 pages, ending on J 2 verso.) 

4. As Eobyn Hood in Barnesdale stood. (Mentioned in 

e2 



lii XXII. Robin Hood. 

TTdall's translation of ' Erasmi Apothegmata,' 1542, but no early 
copy has yet been found.) 

5. A ballett of Eobyn hod. Licensed to John Allde in 1562-3. 

As Wyllyam Copland's edition of the Meri/ Oeste and Flay 
is the one nearest to Laneham's time, we'll suppose that ' the 
black Prince' and Captain Cox had it, and say what it contains. 

The well-known Lytell Geste tells in 8 fyttes how 1. Kobin, — 
with Little John, Scathelock, and Much, the miller's son, — feeds 
and clothes, and lends £1;00 to, a knight who is mourning for the 
almost certain loss of his lauds, pledged for £400 to the Abbot of 
St. Mary's, York, because his son has slain a Lancashire knight 
and a squire. 2. The day for redemption of the mortgage 
arrives ; the Abbot makes sure of getting the land, and has 
bribed the Justice to take his side, when the knight comes to beg 
for longer time to pay off the mortgage in, and offers to serve the 
Abbot till he cau repay him. The Abbot refuses scornfully, and 
appeals to the Justice to declare that the place is his. On this 
the Knight pulls out Robin's £400, and gets back his land. He 
afterwards saves up the money, and starts with 100 bowmen, 
carrying 100 bows etc. as a present, to pay Robin ; and on his 
way releases a strange archer at a match, who has beaten all the 
other shots, and is to be slain from envy. 3. Little John^ turns 
man-servant to the Sheriff of Nottingham, gets up a row in the 
house because he has to wait for his dinner, fights the big cook, 
and then persuades him to join in robbing the Sheriff, and going 
off to Eobin Hood. In the forest, Little John finds the Sherifi", 
and by a trick brings him to Robin, who makes him sleep in the 
forest, and lets him go, on his swearing never to hurt Robin or 
his men. 4. Little John, Much, and Scathlock, take a monk of 
St. Mary's Abbey, Tork, and frighten away 50 of his 52 followers. 
Robin gives the monk a dinner, and takes away all his gold, £800 
and more. Tlie knight to whom Robin had lent £400, then 
brings it him back, with 20 marks interest, and a present of 100 
bows with arrows, etc. Robin accepts the bows, but refuses the 
£400, as he's already been paid by the monk of St. Mary's. He 
then gives the knight another £400 for his bows. 5. The Sheriff" 

1 He is represented in the woodcut on Copland's title-page as a fierce little 
man in complete armour, with his right hand on a very big scimitar, sheathed, 
and his left hand carrjang a battle-axe longer than himself, while Eobin Hood 
19 a very tall archer, with bow, arrows, and feather to match. 



XXII. Robin Hood. liii 

of Nottingham proclaims a shooting-match. Eobin wins the 
prize. The Sheriff tries to take him and his men ; but they make 
good their retreat to Syr Eychard-at-the-Lee's friendly castle. 

6. There the Sheriff besets them, but Sir Eichard bids him off, 
and says he'll answer to the king for his acts. To London the 
Sheriff goes ; and the king promises him that he'll come to Not- 
tingham in a fortnight, and take Eobin. Meantime the Sheriff 
waylays Sir Eichard ; but his wife at once tells Eobin ; and he 
overtakes the party, kills the Sheriff, and frees Sir Eichard. 

7. The King comes to Nottingham, finds all his deer gone, and is 
very wroth, but can't find Eobin Hood. At last, drest like an 
Abbot and monks, the king and five of his knights soon meet 
Eobin, are robbed of all their money, £40, and the Abbot (or 
King) invites Eobin to dine with the King. Grlad at this, Eobin 
gives the Abbot dinner, serves him, has a shooting-match for him, 
and takes a buffet from him when he, Eobin, misses putting his 
arrow inside the rose-garland bull's-eye. Then Eobin and Sir 
Eichard recognize the King; kneel, and crave pardon, which is 
granted. 8. The King gets Eobin to clothe him and his knights 
in green ; they all go together to Nottingham, and Eobin stays at 
court for 15 months till all his money's gone. Then he journeys 
home to 'Bernysdale' and dwells 'in grene wode' twenty-two 
years, till the wicked Prioress of Kyrkesley, incited by Sir Eoger 
of Donkestere, lets him blood, to his death. 

The ' newe playe for to be played in Maye games, very plesaunte 
and full of pastyme ' as the title-page says, or ' verye proper to be 
played in Maye games,' as the heading on leaf H ii back (unsigned) 
has it, is a dramatization, with changes, of ' Eobin Hood and Friar 
Tuck,' and 'Eobin Hood and the Potter.' Eitson says in his 
Bolin Hood Ballads that he has reprinted the Play ' in another 
place.' Eobin tells his men how he fought with a Friar, and the 
Friar took his purse. "Who will go and fetch the Friar? Little 
John volunteers ; but Friar Tuck appears ; and after much mutual 
abuse, the Friar takes Eobin on his back, and throws him into the 
water. They fight ; Eobin blows for his men ; the Friar whistles 
for his men, not dogs : — 

Now cut and bause, 
Bring forth the clubbes and staues, 
And downe with those ragged knaves, — 

when Eobin proposes to the Friar to serve him, and have not 



liv - XXII. Robin Hood. 

only golde and fee, but also ' a Lady free.' The lady or ' huckle 
duckle ' as the Friar calls her, he eagerly accepts ; and then comes 
the second incident. Eobin complains of a proud Potter who 
won't pay passage-money for his use of the road. Who'll make 
him ? Little John says that none of 'em can ; but Robin under- 
takes to do it. Then the potter's boy appears, and Robin smashes 
all his pots. The Potter comes up, abuses Eobin, and offers to 
fight him with sword and buckler. Eobin accepts, tells Little 
John 

Be the knaue neuer so stoute, 

1 shall rappe him on the snoute 
And put hym to flyghte. 

Thus endeth the play of Eobyn Hode. 

Whether the Potter got rapt on the snowt, ' wyllyam Copland ' 
of ' the thre Crane wharfe ' does not say ; but doubtless the play, 
when acted, wound up with the Potter's beating and flight. 

Six imperfect versions of Eobin Hood ballads differing some- 
what from any others known are in the Percy Folio Ballads and 
Romances, vol. 1, p. 13-58. * Eobin Hoode his Death,' p. 50, is 
the most important. 

We know from Latimer and Stubbes what a hold the Eobin 
Hood games had on the common folk in their days. In Henry 
the VIlI's time Eobin was popular at Court too. Witness Hall's 
accounts, of which here is one : — 

"The kyng, sone after [Henry VIII, after 12 Jan. 1509-10] 
came to Westminster with the Queue, and all their train : And on 
a tyme beyng there, his grace, therles of Essex, Wilshire, and 
other noble menne, to the number of twelue, came sodainly in a 
mornyng into the Queues Chambre, all appareled in shorte cotes 
of Kentishe Kendal, with hodes on their heddes, and hosen of the 
same, euery one of them his bowe and arrowes, and a sworde and 
a bucklar, like outlawes, or Bohyn Hodes men ; whereof the 
Queue, the Ladies, and al other there, were abashed, as well for 
the straunge sight, as also for their sodain commyng : and after 
certain daunces, and pastime made, thai departed." SalVs 
Chronicle, p. 513, ed. 1809. See too the Maying of 1515, when 
the king's guard dressed up as Eobin Hood and his men, and gave 
the king and queen a venison breakfast at Shooter's Hill, ib. 
p. 582. 

XXIII. Adam Bel, Climofthe Clough, and William of Cloudesley. 



XXIII. Adam Bel, Clim of the Clougli, etc. Iv 

Of this well-known ballad on the three bold outlaws of the north 
we know only, 1. an early fragment which Mr. Hazlitt thinks was 
printed by "Wynkyn de Worde {JE. Pop. Poetry, ii. 132) and 
which Mr. J. P. Collier said in 1865 was ' not long since dis- 
covered as the fly-leaf to another book ' {Bihl. Catal. i. 11) ; 2. a 
complete though incorrect edition among Garrick'a books in the 
British Museum, ' Imprinted at London in Lothburye by Wyllyam 
Copland ', doubtless after 1561, though it is not in the Stationers' 
Eegister A. But in this MS., on leaf 24, next to an entry of a 
license to ' William Coplande,' stands, under the year 1557-8, 
this: 

To John Kynge, to prynte tHs boke Called Adam bell &c. ; and for his lycense 
he geveth to the howse [mo sum.'] 

We get a notice of another edition (no doubt) before 1575' in 
Eegister B, (Collier's Stat. Beg. ii. 155) by Awdeley who wrote 
the Praternitye of Vacabondes^ and was called John Sampson, or 
Awdeley, or Sampson Awdeley. 

[1581-2] 15 January. 

John Charlwood. Ed. of him, for his lycence to printe theis Copies hereafter 
mentioned, &c. Copies which were Sampson Awdeleys, and now lycenced to 
the said John Charlwood &c. . . . Adam Bell. 

Some pleasant talk and bibliographical cram on the ballad and 
its subject, the reader will find in Mr. Hazlitt's introduction to it 
in Early Pop. Poetry, ii. 131, and Mr. Collier's Bibl. Catal. i. 11, 
while a slightly differing copy of the ballad is in the Percy Folio 
Ballads, iii. 76-101. The story of the ballad is so widely known 
as hardly to need mention. William Cloudesley goes from the 
green forest to see his wife and children in the town : there he is 
betrayed by an old woman he has kept for charity 7 years ; his 
house is burnt, and he taken, and condemned to die. Adam Bell 
and Clim of the Clough get into the town, cut Cloudesley loose 
at the foot of the gallows, rescue him, and all get away to the 
merry greenwood. There Cloudesley finds his wife and children ; 
then goes with his son to London, and, by the Queen's interces- 
sion, gains the King's pardon for himself and his friends. But 
afterwards, when the King hears of 300 men, the Mayor, Con- 

* 'No book with a date being known from Awdeley's press after 1576.' 
{Collier's Stat. Reg. ii. 156.) 

° See our edition of it, with Harman's Camat, etc., E. E. Text Soc. Extra 
Series 1869. 



Ivi XXIV. Lydgate's " Churl and the Burd.'^ 

stables, Catchpolls, Bailiffs, Beadles, and Serjeant-at-law, of Car- 
lisle, all slain by the outlaws, — besides 40 of his own foresters, — 
he regrets that he hasn't hanged the outlaws all three. Cloudesley 
then beats all the king's archers, and, like Tell and other mythic 
folk, splits an apple on his son's head at sixscore paces with an 
arrow, is made a gentleman, his wife chief gentlewoman of the 
Queen's nursery ; and all the three outlaws live with the King, and 
die good yeomen all. Thus were the merry men wont to ' fleet the 
time carelessly, as they did in the golden world.' 

XXIV. The Churl and the Burd. Of this popular poem by Lyd- 
gate we have no less than seven printed editions before Captain 
Cox's time, besides more manuscript copies. Caxton's first edition, 
about 1479, is in the University Library, Cambridge; his second, 
about 1480, is in the York Chapter Library, and has been 
reprinted for the Eoxburghe Club. "Wynkyn de "Worde's first 
edition was printed in Caxton's house, about 1500 a.d. ; his second 
' in the Fletestrete in the sygne of the Sonne,' and a copy is in 
the University Libr. Cambr. Of Pynson's edition a copy is in the 
Grenville collection in the British Museum. Johan Mychell's 
edition was ' pri?«ted at Canterbury in Saynte Paules parysshe ' 
about 1540, and copies are among Selden's books in the Bodleian, 
and at Bridgewater House. Lastly, Wylliam Copland's edition 
was ' Imprented at London in Lothburi ouer against Sainct Mar- 
garytes church ' after 1561, and was reprinted by Ashmole in his 
Theatrum Ohemicum, 1652, 4to. In 1840 Mr. Halliwell printed 
the poem from the Harl.' MS. 116, leaves 146-152, in his Minor 
Poems of Dan John Lydgate for the Percy Society, p. 179-193. 
There must be several other MS. copies of it. The moral of the 
poem, translated ' out of the Trenssh,' and that taken from the 
Latin, is, that you're not to be too fast to believe all the tales 
you hear, not to cry for spilt milk, and not to covet what you 
can't get. A Cliurl is very fond of his garden, and adorns it with 
trees, alleys, a fountain, etc. On a laurel in its midst, a beautiful 
gold-bright Bird sings often *a verray hevenly melodye.' This 
Bird the Churl catches, and proposes to put it in a cage to sing 
to him. But the Bird says it can't sing in thraldom, only in 
liberty ; the Churl' d better let it go, and then it'll come and sing to 
him every day, and will also tell him ' thre grete wysdoms . . . more 
of valewe . . . thane al the golde that is shet in [his] cofre.' On this 
the Churl sets the Bird free; and the Bird tells him 1. Give not 



XXIV. Churl and Bu7'd. X.XV. SeavenPVise Masters. Ivii 

too hasty credence to every tale or tiding ; 2. Desire not a tbing 
which it is impossible to recover; 3. 'For tresoure loste, maketbi 
never to [=too] gret sorowe.' Then the Bird tells the Churl 
that he's been a great fool to free her, for she has, inside her, a 
wondrous jagounce stone wliich would have made him victorious 
in battle, given him plenty of treasure, kept him from all hurt, 
made every one love him, kept his heart light, etc. The Churl 
believes it all, feels his heart part in twain at the treasure he has 
thus lost, and bitterly laments that he has misst the chance of 
living like a king. Then the Bird comes back and mocks him, 
says it's all nonsense, and liis dull wits have forgotten all her 3 
wisdoms ; she warned him not to believe every tale he heard, not 
to sorrow for things suddenly lost, not to covet what he couldn't 
recover. He's broken all three maxims ; it's no good teaching a 
churl terms of gentleness; and so she flies her way. 

XXy. The Seaven Wise Masters. This set of stories is better 
known to manuscript men by its verse title of " The Seven Sages," 
as Weber has printed it from the incomplete earliest English 
text in the Auchinleck MS. ab. 1320-80 a.d., with a head and 
tail from the later Cotton MS. Galba E ix. — ' The Proces of the 
Sevyn Sages,' — in his Metrical JRomances, i. 1-153, and Mr. 
Thomas Wright has printed it from the MS. Dd. i. 17, in the 
Cambridge University Library, for the Pei'cy Society, 1845, with 
a separate long Introduction, to which I must refer the reader. 
M. Paulin Paris and divers Erench and German critics have 
written on the subject since. The earliest English prose version 
known to us — made from the early printed Latin Historia Se^tem 
Sapientum" — was printed by Wynkyn de Worde : 

Here begyimeth. thystorye of y". \'ii. Wyse Maysters of rome conteynyng 
ryght fayre & ryglit ioyous narraceons, & to y^ rcder ryght delectable. [Col.] 
Thus endeth the treatyse of the seuen sages or wyse maysters of Rome. En- 
prented in flet strete in y^ sj'g-ne of the sone by me Wynkyn de worde. [circa 
1505.] 4to, black letter, 80 leaves. With several page woodcuts. Brit. 
Museum. [HazUtt.) Incomplete. One cut is repeated for each Tale of the 
Empress, and another cut for each Tale of the Masters ; but it's a pretty book. 

The next is Wyllyam Copland's (? 1548-1560) at the sygue of the 
Eose Garland. Of two editions entered as licensed in the Sta- 
tioners' Registers we know no copy : 1558 a.d., If. 31, " Thomas 
marshe / Thomas marshe ys lycensed to prynte y^ pronostication 

^ make ye. ^ Ellis's Specitnens, p. 409 (Bohn). 



Iviii XX V^. The Seaven Wise Masters. 

of Lewes Vaugban ; Bevys of hiimpton ; The vij wyse mastev^ of 
Eome. [etc.] . . . xxc/." a.b. 1566, MS. leaf 141. " purfoote / 9- of 
Thomas purfoote, for his lycense for prynting of a boke intituled 
tlie vij masters of Eome &c. / . . . vj(?." 

Mr. Hazlitt enters two early editions of a poetical version, but 
the second is not noticed in the Stationers' Register A, and the 
first is too early for it : — 

(a.) " Sage and prudente Saynges of the Seuen wyse Men, in English Verse, 
by Eobert Burrant, with a Comment. Lond. by Rich. Grafton, 1553. Sm. 
8vo, black letter. 

{b.) Lond. by John Tisdale, 1560. Sm. 8vo, black letter. 

As Captain Cox couldn't have had the poetical version from 
the MS. noticed above, and I don't know where any copy of 
Grafton's or Tisdale's edition is, we will assume that the Captain 
had the prose book, and sketch it as well as we can from the im- 
perfect copy of "Wynkyn de Worde's edition in the Museum. 

When the wife of Poncianus, Emperor of Home, dies, she be- 
seeches her husband not to let the 2nd wife that he'll take, have 
any control over her son Dyoclesian'. She dies, and the Emperor 
gives his boy over to the care of Seven Wise Masters, 1. Pautyllas, 
2. Lentulus, 3. Craton, 4. Malquydrac, 5. Josephus, 6. Cleophas, 
7 not named. Then, urged by his lords, the Emperor marries 
again ; but his second wife cannot conceive, and therefores wishes 
and plots the death of his son Dyoclesian. {Leaf B i. out. The 
Empress gets the Emperor to send for his son. The youth, after 
16 years' training, finds from the stars that unless he keeps dumb 
for 7 days, he'll be killed ;) and so, when Dyoclesian comes to 
the palace, he won't speak to his father. The Empress takes him 
to her room, says she wants to have joy of his person, and shows 
him her breasts and body. He rejects her advances, and she 
screams, and declares he's tried to violate her. The Emperor 
orders his son to be hanged, but his lords persuade him to put 
the youth in prison, and have him tried. The Empress is angry at 
this, and by a tale (^Empress I.) warns the Emperor that he'll meet 
with the fate of the burgess of E-ome who (leaf B 6 ouf) had a tree 
with an ' imp ' or sucker, had the old tree cut down to let the 
sucker grow, and when that was a tree, cut that down too. Thus 
Dyoclesian will cut down the Emperor. On this the Emperor 
orders Dyoclesian to be taken to execution; but as he's going 

* In Ellis, the Emperor is Diocletian, and the son Florentin. 



XXV. The Seaven Wise Masters. lix 

there, Pancyllas stops him, and tells the Emj^eror a tale {Mas- 
ters I.) of how a wife, not looking under an upset cradle for her 
child, persuaded her husband to kill his best greyhound, which had, 
in fact, upset the cradle while killing a serpent who was trying to 
bite the child. The Emperor respites his son for that day ; but 
then the Empress tells him another tale that makes him order 
his son's death ; and the next Master tells him another that makes 
him countermand it. So they go on till, after the seven days, 
Dyoclesian can speak, and expose his step-mother, who is then 
handed over to the law, to be judged to death. The tales or 
* examples,' after the first on each side given above, are : 

Empress II. The Boar and the Shepherd. An Emperor pro- 
mises his only daughter to the man who'll kill a great boar. A 
shepherd tries to do it, climbs up a tree, and throws down fruit to 
the boar which it eats till it gets to sleep. Then the shepherd holds 
on to the tree with one hand, claws the boar's back with the other, 
and at last drives his knife into its heart. 

Masters II. (leaf C 6 out.) The Susbaiid out of doors. A 
burgess of Rome marries a fair proud well-born girl. At nights 
she leaves him when she thinks he's asleep, and goes to her lover. 
jS^ow, as the Roman watch take up all persons found in the streets 
after curfew, put 'em in prison for the night, flog 'em, and set 
'em in the pillory next day, the old husband one night locks his 
door while his wife's out, to let her get punished. She begs hard 
for admission, says she'll drown herself rather than be shamed, 
and then drops a big stone into a well. The old husband, taken-in 
by this, rushes down-stairs to the well, lamenting his drowned 
wife ; but she slips in-doors, locks the old man out, and there the 
watch catch him, and give him the customary punishment. 

Empress III. The Father murdered hy his son. A spendthrift 
knight gets his son to help him rob the Emperor Octavian's trea- 
sure, by digging a hole under the tower it's kept in. To catch 
the thief, the treasurer puts a vessel filled with pitch and gums 
into the hole. Father and son come again ; the father falls into 
the vessel up to bis neck, and tells his son to cut his head off", and 
then run home. The son does this. To find out the robber, the 
father's dead body is drawn through the streets. When his 
daughters see it, they shriek, and the officers rusli up ; but the son 
wounds his mouth, and declares his sisters shrieked at that. So 
they avoid discovery : the father's body is hung up, and the sou 
doesn't bury it or his head. 



Ix XXV. The Seaven Wise Masters. 

Masters III. The Magpie. A. mercbant has a fair false wife, 
whose misdeeds his magpie tells him, and he upbraids her for 
them. One time that he is away, bis wife lets in her lover, and 
the Magpie declares he'll tell his master. The wife gets up a 
ladder to the roof of the bouse, makes a hole in it, and pours sand, 
stones, and water, on the Magpie. When the merchant comes 
home, the Magpie tells him of his wife having her lover last night 
when snow, hail, and rain, fell on the pie's back. The wife declares 
it's all a lie ; the weather was quite fair. So too say all the neigh- 
bours ; and accordingly the merchant wrings the Magpie's neck. 
Then he sees the ladder, and pots of sand, stones, and water ; and 
goes oiF sorrowing to the Holy Land. [Comp. Chaucer's Man- 
ciple's Tale.] 

Empress IV.^ The Emperor [Herowdes, Ellis] and 3£erlin. 
An Emperor lias 7 wise Masters who make him blind whenever 
lie goes out of his palace, and who oppress his people, and charge 
them a florin apiece for every dream they interpret. At length 
the Emperor threatens the 7 Masters with death unless they cure 
him. They can't do it, but, hearing a wise child, Merlin, interpret 
a dream truly, they take him to the Emperor. The child orders 
the Emperor's bedclothes etc. to be taken oft', and there appears a 
well, with 7 springs, which are the 7 wise Masters, By Merlin's 
direction, the 7 Masters' heads are cut off", the springs and well 
vanish, and tlie Emperor regets his sight. 

blasters IV. The old luise man loho Meeds his naiighfy wife. 
A wise old knight is persuaded to marry the fair young daiigliter 
of the Provost of Eome ; but he lies too still in bed for her, and 
so she resolves to have in the Priest, as spiritual men keep such 
things more secret than laymen^. However, her mother persuades 
her to try her husband first, and see whether he'll stand her 
adultery. So, she tries him thrice, 1. she cuts down his favourite 
tree in his garden, 2. she kills his favourite greyhound before bis 
eyes, 3. at a feast they give their friends, she pulls the tablecloth 
and everything on it, off" the table on to the ground. Then the 
old knight tames her ; has a barber up, and makes him bleed her 
in both arms till she thinks she'll die ; when she repents, and 
says 'The deuyll may the preest confounde and shame. I wyl 
neuer loue other but my husbonde.' (See Le Menagier, i. lGl-5.) 

^ This is the Empress's 6th tale in Ellis. 

" See Le Menagier de Paris, vol. i. p. 162 : " Mere," dit la fiUe, "j'aimeray 
lo chapeUain do ceste ville, car prestres et religieux craingneiit honte, et sont 



XXV. The Seaven Wise Masters. Ixi 

Empress V. Is the story of Virgilius and his Images (above, p. 
xlii) or Cressus, the rich man, as Ellis calls it : how 4 knights, ene- 
mies of Eome, persuade the Emperor to let them undermine Vir- 
gilius'a tower and break his images ; and how the Eomans pour 
molten gold down the Emperor's throat, and are themselves all de- 
stroyed by their enemies. Another short incident is, how Virgil's 
light, and his hot and cold baths for the citizens, are destroyed. 

Masters V. Hippocrates and his nephew (Ellis), or Ypocras 
and Galiemis. The famous physician Ypocras has a clever nephew, 
Galienus, whom he teaches, and sends to the King of Ungary to 
cure his son. Having seen the child's urine and felt its pulse — 
' tasted his pounces ' — Gralienus says the child is not the King's 
son. The Queen says it is, and threatens the doctor; but is at 
last obliged to confess that the Kyng of Burgondyen is its father. 
Then Galienus can prescribe for it, gives it ' to ete, beef, or of an 
oxe to dry«ke,' cures it, goes home, and tells Ypocras what he 
has done. The old uncle, filled with envy, gets Galienus to stoop 
to pick a herb, and kills him. After that, Ypocras falls sick unto 
death, and dies because his nephew is not there to help him. 

Empress VI. The Emperor and his Steward's Wife. A very 
ugly Emperor resolves to attack ]^ome, and take away the bodies 
of Peter and Paul. He also wants a fair woman to lie with him, 
and offers his steward £1000 to get him one. The steward, to 
get the money, takes his own Wife to the Emperor, who likes her 
so much that he won't let her go again ; and when the Steward 
confesses she's his own wife, the Emperor banishes him. Then 
the Emperor proposes to attack Eome, but 6 of the Wise Masters 
dissuade him from it for 6 days ; and on the 7th, the 7th Master 
clothes himself in a marvellous vesture of peacocks' and other 
birds' tails, and stands on the highest tower with 2 bright swords 
in his mouth. The Emperor and his host take the Master for 
' Jhesus, the god of y*^ crysten folke,' flee, and are nearly all killed 
by the Eomans. 

Masters VI. The Murderous Knight and his Wife. A poor 
knight has a fair young wife who sings well, and accepts the offers 
of 3 knights to give her 100 florins each, and lie with her. She 
then persuades her husband to let them in at the gate one after 
the other, at difterent times, take their money, and cut off their 

plus secrets. Je ne vouldroie jamais amer un chevalier, car il se vanteroit 
plus tost, et gaberoit de moy, et me demanderoit mes gages [?] a engager." 



Ixii XXV. The Seaven Wise Masters. 

heads. Then the trouble is to get rid of the bodies. Her brother 
is governor of the watch at Eome, and she makes up a story to 
him, that her husband quarrelled with a friend and killed him. 
The brother takes the corpse in a sack, and throws it into the 
sea. But no sooner has he got back to his sister's, than she says, 
" The knight you cast into the sea has come back again," and so 
she makes hira get rid of the 2nd corpse, and then the 3rd. To 
make sure of the 3rd, her brother burns it; and when he after- 
wards sees a strange knight warming himself at the fire, he thinks 
it is the corpse come to life a 4th time, and therefore throws the 
knight and his horse into the fire. After a time the wife and her 
husband fall out, and he smites her. She waxes angry, and says 
' O wretche ! wyll ye kylle me as ye haue done the thre 
knyghtes.?" This is over-heard; and the husband and wife are 
found out, ' drawen atte an horse tayll, and banged vppon the 
galowes.' 

Empress VII. The two Dreams^, or The King that didn't know 
his own Wife. A king loves his wife so, that he locks her up in a 
strong castle, and keeps the key himself. She and a knight in far 
parts each dream of the other, though neither has seen that other. 
The knight searches for, and finds, the Queen; she throws him a 
letter ; he does valiant deeds at her husband's court, gets his leave 
to build a place near his tower, and has a secret passage made into 
it. There the Queen yields to him, and gives him a ring that the 
King had given her. This the king sees one day ; and the knight 
has to sham ill, and get home to the Queen and give her back the 
ring, to prevent being found out. Then the knight first gets the 
Queen to dress up in foreign clothes as his love, and entertains 
the king at a feast ; and secondly, the knight gets the King to give 
the Queen away to him as his bride, at his wedding. The wedded 
couple set sail ; and the king discovers the trick, but too late. 

Masters VII. The ungrateful Widow. A loving knight dies of 
distress at having accidentally cut his wife's finger. She at first 
pretends to be very sorry, and refuses comfort ; but afterwards, to 
make another knight marry her, — a sherifi" who has let some one 
steal a thief's body from the gallows, — helps to take up her hus- 
band's corpse, and then mangles it frightfully — knocks its teeth 
out, wounds its head, and cuts off its ears and stones. — Then she 
claims fulfilment of the Sheriff''s promise to marry her ; but he re- 
* In Ellis, this is made the Wise Masters' 7th story. 



XXV. The Seaven Wise Masters. Ixiii 

preaches her for ill-treating her first husband's corpse, and cuts 
her head off. 

After this, Dyoclesyan exposes his step-mother's adultery, and 
her attempt to corrupt him ; she is left to the law ; and Dyocle- 
syan tells a concluding tale or Example : 

Dyoclesyan' s Tale. The Two Friends : A lexander and Lodo- 
wyhe} A knight had a son whom he gave up to a master of a far 
country to teach. When the son came back, a nightingale sang, 
and the Father askt his boy to tell him what the bird said. ' That 
I shall become a great lord ; my father shall bring water to wash 
my hands, and my mother shall hold my towel.' For this the 
father throws the boy into the sea ; but he swims to a land, is 
pickt up by a ship, and sold to a Duke, with whom he grows into 
favour. Three Eavens follow the King of this Duke wherever he 
goes ; and he offers his daughter and realm to whoever will rid 
him of the Eavens. The boy tells him that the Eavens have a 
dispute : they are father, mother, and child. In a time of famine, 
the mother left the child and flew away, while the father stopt 
with it and fed it ; yet now the mother wants the child ; so does 
the father : which is to have it ? If the King gives right judg- 
ment, the Eavens will trouble him no more. The King gives 
judgment for the Father, and is free of his pests. The boy, Alex- 
ander, stays with the king (of Egypt) for a time, then goes to the 
court of the great Emperor Tytus. There he is made Carver ; 
and Lodowyke, the king of France's son, who is very like Alex- 
ander, but weaker, is made cupbearer. Lodowyke falls violently 
in love with Florentyne, Tytus's daughter ; and Alexander makes 
her such rich presents for his friend, that she lets Lodowyke come 
to her at night whenever he likes. Alexander is then called home 
by the death of the king of Egypt, and Guydo, son of the King of 
Spain, is appointed Carver in his place. Guydo soon finds out, 
and tells the Emperor of, Lodowyke's tricks with his daughter. 
Lodowyke denies them, and challenges Guydo ; but as he is weak, 
and Guydo strong, Florentyne bids him go to Alexander. He 
does so, and finds Alexander preparing for his marriage, and 
unable to put it off; but as Guydo must be fought, Alexander 
leaves Lodowyke to personate him, and marry his bride, while he 

' Compare the Prince's Tale in Ellis. The present one comprises that and 
another old story. 



Ixiv XXV. The Seaven Wise Masters. 

goes back to fight Guydo. This is done accordingly. Alexander, 
after a hard struggle, cuts off Guydo's head, and explains his 
victory to the Emperor by the fact that God always favours the 
innocent. Lodovryke marries Alexander's bride, but lays a naked 
sword between her and himself at night. Then Alexander returns, 
and the sword is no longer needed ; but his wife is so indignant 
at her supposed husband's long neglect of her charms, that she 
gives her love to another old lover, and with him concocts a 
poison for Alexander, which nearly kills him, and quite turns him 
into a leper. Then they dethrone him, and he goes, as a leprous 
beggar, to Lodowyke, who, by the death of his father and Tytus, 
has become Emperor of Eome and Erance. Eor Alexander's sake, 
Lodowyke lets the leprous beggar eat before him, and drink out 
of his own cup ; and when the beggar makes himself known, 
Lodowyke treats him with the greatest kindness. It is then 
revealed to Lodowyke, that by killing his twin sons, and washing 
Alexander in their blood, he can cure him. Lodowyke at once 
cuts his boys' throats, and heals Alexander, and then sends him 
some way off, that he may come again as a visitor to him. Eloreu- 
tyne is overjoyed to see Alexander; and when Lodowyke asks 
her whether, if Alexander had been like the leprous beggar, she'd 
give her twins' lives to cure him, she says ' Tes ! ten sons if I had 
them. We owe our lives and all our happines to him !' Lodo- 
wyke then tells her that her boys are dead ; but notwithstanding 
they are soon found, singing praises to the Virgin, with a gold 
thread round their throats where the knife cut. Lodowyke 
restores Alexander to his kingdom of Egypt, burns to powder his 
wife and her paramour, and gives him his own sister in marriage. 
Then Alexander, as King of Egypt, visits his father and mother; 
his father holds the basin and water for him, and his mother holds 
the towel ; on which he reminds them of the nightingale's song, 
and their son, who he is. 

Dyoclesyan's father offers to give-up the Empire to him ; but he 
refuses it, helps his father till he dies, and then reigns long and 
happily. On the history and sources of this Eomance of the 
Seven Sages, see the Introduction to it in Ellis, the prehminary 
essay in Warton's History of English Poetry, Mr. T. Wright's 
Preface or Essay for the Percy Society, M. Paulin Paris, etc., on 
the Erench Dolopathos, besides numerous Germans. 

XXVI. The Wife Lapt in a Morels Skin. This is an interesting 



XXVI. The Wife lapt in a Morels Skin. Ixv 

and amusing old poem on the Charming or Taming of a Shrew, 
long before Shakspere's famous play, of which the quarto edition 
bears date 1594. The only old edition now known is, 

Here begynneth a merry Jeste of a skrewde and curste Wyfe, lapped in 
Morrelles skin, for her good behauyour. Imprinted at London iu Fleetestrete, 
benethe the Conduite, at the signe of Saint John Euangelist, by H. Jackson. 
(No date, 4to, 23 leaves.) 

Modern reprints are Mr. Utterson's in his Select Pieces of Early 
Popular Poetry, 1817 ; Mr. T. Amyot's for the Shakespeare So- 
ciety, 1844 ; Mr. W. C. Hazlitt's, in his excellent Early Popidar 
Poetry, vol. iv. p. 179-226, a.d. 1866. The Poem tells, in 1114 
lines, how a good meek mnn had a curst wife — that is, one with 
the devil's own temper — and two daughters, one meek like him- 
self, and the other curst like her mother ; how the meek daughter 
got well married; and how, notwithstanding the father's strong 
warnings, a young man would marry the curst daughter. The 
courtship, the getting the mother's consent, as well as the girl's 
and the father's, the wedding-feast, first night and next morning, 
are all capitally told. The new couple begin business, and every- 
thing goes well till the curst bride falls foul of her husband's ser- 
vants, and then, on his reproving her, abuses him violently. He, 
much grieved, rides away to let his wife's temper blow over; but 
when he comes back, she abuses him worse than before. So he 
has his blind old horse, Morell, killed and flayed ; salts the skin 
that it mayn't stink, and gets a stock of new birch brooms. Then 
he asks her whether she will be master : she swears she will, and 
hits him ; on which he catches her up, and locks her in the cellar. 
There they have a regular wrestling-match ; he throws her, tears 
her smock off her back, and lays into her well with a rod in each 
hand till she bleeds freely, and swoons. Then he wraps her in 
old Morell's salted hide, which makes her smart ; and he declares 
he'll keep her in it all her life. On this, she promises to amend, 
and obey him ; and he promises never to hurt her again. Her 
sores are soon cured ; and, to test her, her husband gives a feast 
to his father- and mother-in-law, and friends, and makes his wife 
wait on them. This she dutifully does, to her mother's great 
disgust. The mother abuses her son-in-law for his cruelty, and 
vows she'll see his heart's blood for it. But he tells the old 
woman that if she doesn't keep quiet, he'll make her dance too, 
and put her in old Morell's hide. She thinks he means what he 

/ 



Ixvi XXYll. The Sak full 0/ Nues. 

says, and gets out of the house as soon as dinner is done. All the 
neighbours hold that the bridegroom has done right ; and, says 
the author unknown. 

He that can charme a shrewde wyfe 

Better then thus, 
Let him come to me, and fetch ten pound 

And a golden purse. 

XXVII. The Sahfull ofNuez. This story-book or jest-book was 
licensed to John Kynge, with two other books, in 1557-8, " a 
saeke full of newes" (Stat. Eeg. A, leaf 22; Collier, i. 3). It 
was afterwards Awdeley's, and then licensed to John Charlwood 
on 15 Jan. 1581-2, and to Edward White on 5 Sept. 1586 {Collier, 
ii. 155, 215) but the earliest edition now known is, says Mr. W. 
C. Hazlitt, that of 1673 ; from which Mr. Halliwell reprinted it 
in 1861, and Mr. Hazlitt also reprinted it in his Old English 
Jest Boohs, second series, p. 163. It is a collection of 22 tales, 
of which Mr. Hazlitt has in his edition suppressed two, as being 
too gross for publication. I take a sample at random, from 
p. 173-4. " There was a priest in the country which had christned 
a child ; and when he had christned it, he and the dark were 
bidden to the drinking that should be there; and thither they 
went with other people ; and being there, the priest drunk, and 
made so merry, that he was quite foxed, and thought to go home 
before he laid him down to sleep. But having gone a little way, 
he grew so drousie that he could go no further, but laid him down 
by a ditch side, so that his feet did hang in the water, and, lying 
on his back, the Moon shined in his face. Thus he lay, till the 
rest of the company came from drinking ; who, as they came home, 
found the priest lying as aforesaid, and they thought to get him 
away ; but, do what they could, he would not rise, but said : ' do 
not meddle with me, for I lie very well, and will not stir hence 
before morning : but, I pray, lay some more cloathes on my feet, 
and blow out the candle, and let me lie and take my rest.' " 

XXVIII. The Seargeaunt that hecame a Fryar. This is a jocose 
poem of 288 lines, said to be by Sir Thomas More, and printed in 
the postumous 1557 edition of his English Worhes. An earlier edi- 
tion of it, " A mery Gest how a Sergeaunt wolde lerne to be a 
Frere" was "Enprynted at London by me, Julyan Notary, 
dwellyng in Powlys churcbe yarde, at the weste dore, at the synge 
of saynt Marke," no date, 4to, black letter, 4 leaves ; and another 



XXVIII. The Fryar-Seargeaunt. XXIX. Skogan. Ixvii 

edition was " Imprinted at London by Rycharde Jhonea," also 
without date, in 4to, in one little volume with, but after, The 
Mylner of Abyngdon} From this edition of Jhones's, collated 
with that in Sir T. More's Worhes, Mr. W. C. Hazlitt printed 
the poem in his Early Popular Poetry, iii. 119-129. The moral 
of the tale is, that a man who has been brought up to one trade 
shouldn't take to another, but stick to his own business. A young 
spendthrift drinks away all the money his father has left him, and 
then borrows more, right and left, which he squanders ' in mirth 
and play.' Then he goes to 'Saint Katherine' — wherever that may 
be, — and defies his creditors. One of them asks a Serjeant how to 
proceed ; and the Serjeant undertakes to arrest the Debtor. The 
Serjeant accordingly disguises himself as a Friar, gets admission 
to the Debtor's room, and there tries to arrest him. But the 
Debtor knocks the Serjeant down, and they have a regular fight. 
At last 'the maide and wife' of the place come up, and beat the 
Friar-Serjeant about the noil and crown ' till he was well nighe 
slaine.' Then they throw him headlong down stairs ; and the 
author counsels every man, " His own crafte use ; all newe re- 
fuse." 

XXIX. SJcogan. On this old collection of Jests, which is attri- 
buted to Andrew Boorde, I have commented in my Forewords to 
Boorde's Introduction and Dyetary for the Early English Text So- 
ciety's Extra Series, 1870. I do not believe it to be Boorde's work, 
though " many of the Jests turn on doctors and medicine . . . and 
many are concerned with Oxford life, which we assume Boorde to 
have passed through. Read the Prologue to the Jests : 

" There is nothing beside the goodness of Ood, that preserves 
health so much as honest mirth used at dinner and supper, and 
mirth towards bed, as it doth plainly appear in the Directions for 
Health : therefore considering this matter, that mirth is so neces- 
sary for man, I publish this Book, named The Jests of Scogin, to 
make men merry : for amongst divers other Books of grave mat- 
ters I have made, my delight had been to recreate my mind in 
making something merry ; wherefore I do advertise every man, in 
avoiding pensiveness, or too much study or melancholy, to be 

' "A ryght pleasaunt and merye liistorie of the Mylner of Abyngdon, with 
his wife, and his fayre daughter, and of two pore scholera of Cambridge. 
Where-vnto is adioyned another merye jest of a Sargeaunt that would have 
learned to be a iryar." 4to, 14 leaves. The Mylner is not by Andrew Boorde. 

/2 



Ixviii XXIX. Skoyan. 

merry with honesty in Grod, and for God, whom I humbly beseech 
to send us the mirth of Heaven, Amen. 

" and then compare it with the extracts from Boorde's Breuiary 
on Mirth and honest Company, p. 88, ete.^; lastly, compare the first 
Jest with Boorde's chapters on Urines in his Extrmiagantes, and 
remark the striking coincidence between the Jest's physician 
saying, ' Ah ... a water or urine is but a strioonpet ; a man may 
be deceived in a water,' and Boorde's declaring that urine ' is a 
strumpet or an harlot, for it wyl lye; and the best doctour of 
Phisieke of them all maye be deceyued in an vryne, and his cun- 
nyng and learning not a tote the worse.' (JExtrauagantes, Fol. 
xxi. back.)" 

" Scogin's Jests, an idle thing unjustly fathered upon Dr. Boorde, 
have been often printed in Duck Lane," says Anthony a Wood, 
Ath. Oxon, i 172. The first edition known to us is in the Bodleian, 
A.D. 1613 ; the second is in the British Museum : " The first and 
best parts of Scoggins lests: full of witty Mirth and pleasant 
Shifts done by him in France and other Places ; being a Preser- 
uatiue against Melancholy. Gathered by An. Boord, Dr of 
Physicke." London, F. "Williams, 1626. Lowndes names an 
earlier edition in black letter, undated. The work was licensed 
to Colwel in 15662 (^Collier's Stat, Beg. i. 120). We see that Lane- 
ham doesn't give Skoggan to "Doctor Boord," as he does the 
Breuiary of Health. " A. B." may be Any Body, and some of 
the stories are old ones put into Scogin's mouth, like the following 
from the edition of 1796, which is altered a little from one in The 
Seven Sages (No. XXV, p. Ix, above), and Le Menagier de Paris, 
1393, p. 158-65. 

Soto Scogin caused his ivife to he let Hood. 
After that Scogin's wife had played this prank, she used so long 
to go a gossiping, that if her husband had spoken any word con- 
trary to her mind, she would crow against him, that all the street 
should ring of it. Scogin thought it was time to break his wife 
of such matters, and said to her, " I wish you would take other 
ways, or else I will displease you." "Displease me!" said she, 
"beware that you do not displease yourself!" "yea," said Scogin, 
" I will see that one day, how you will displease me :" she still con- 
tinued her approbrious words : at last, Scogin called her into a 

* Of my ed. of the Introduction and Dyetary, - lb. p. 31. 



XXIX. Skogan. XXX. Collyn Clout. Ixix 

chamber, and took one of his servants with him, and said to her 
" Dame, you have a little hot and proud blood about your heart, 
and in your stomach ; and if it be not let out, it will infect you 
and many more ; therefore be content ; there is no remedy but 
that blood must be let out:" "I defie thee," said Scogin's wife, 
and was up in the house top: "yea!" said he: "come," said 
Scogin to his servant, " and let us bind her to this form." She 
scratched and clawed them by the faces, and spurned them with 
her feet so long, that she was weary : so at the last she was bound 
hand and foot to a form, "Now," said Scogin to his servant, 
" go fetch a chyrurgeon, or a barber that can let blood." The 
servant went and brought a surgeon. Scogin said to him, " sir, 
it is so, that my wife is mad, and doth rave ; and I have been with 
physicians, and they bave counselled me to let ber blood : she bath 
infectious blood about the heart, and I would have it out :" 
"sir," said the chyrurgeon, "it shall be done." Scogin said, 
"she is so mad, she is bound to a form ;" "the better for that," 
said the surgeon : when Scogin and the surgeon entered into the 
chamber, she made an exclamation upon Scogin. Then said 
Scogin, " you may see that my wife is mad ; I pray you let her 
bleed both in the arm and the foot, and under the tongue:" 
Scogin and his man held out her arm, and they opened a vein 
named Cardica. When she had bled well, "now stop that vein," 
said Scogin, " and let her blood under the foot." When she saw 
that, " sir, said she, forgive me, and I will never displease you 
hereafter:" "well," said Scogin, "if you do so, then I do think it 
shall be best for us both." By this tale is proved, that it is a 
shrewd hurt that maketh the body fare the worse, and an unhappy 
house where the woman is master. 

There are 59 anecdotes of Scogin and his tricks in the edition 
of 1796 ; but the one above will perhaps be enough for the reader. 

XXX. Collyn Clout. This is the well-known vigorous satire of 
Skelton^, poet-laureat to Henry VIII, against the pride and ill 
deeds of Cardinal Wolsey^, the clergy, monks, and friars ; the 

^ I assume that it is not Barnes's skit against Andrew Boorde for his attack 
on beards, — " The treatyse answerynge the boke of Berdes, compyled by Collyn 
Clowte, dedycatyd to Bamarde barber, dwellyng in Banbery " (1542 or 1543 ?), 
reprinted at the end of my edition of Boorde' s Introduction etc. 1870, p. 305-316. 

2 Skelton's special satire against Wolsey is his " Why come ye nat to Courte ?" 
Works, ed. Dyce, ii. 26. Compare Eoy's bitterer satire against the Cardinal, 
Rede me and be not wroth, 1527 ; and the Impeachment of Wolsey in my ' Ballads 
from Manuscripts,' Pt. 2, Ballad Soc. 1871. 



Ixx 



XXX. Collyn Clout. 



neglect of learning and politics by the nobles, and the anti- 
church and heretical spirit among the commonalty. It was edited 
by Mr. Dyce in his Poetical Works of John Skelton, 1843, vol. i. 
p. 311-360, from three old editions, and the only manuscript 
known, in the Harleian MS. 2252, leaf 147. Here are the open- 
ing lines from that manuscript : — 

Harl. MS. 2252, fol. 147. 

quis rcsurgat Ad Malyngnawtes ? aut quis stabit mecuw aduersus 
ope?'aiites iniquitatow* ? nemo, domme ! 



Whate Can hyt Avayle 

To dryve forthe A snayle, 

or to make A Sayle 

of an heryng tayle ? 4 

to Ryme or to Rayle, 

to -wryte or to endji;e, 

eythyr for to endyte 

or else for to desyte, 3 

or bokw to compyle 

of dyvers man«r of style, 

vycts to revyle, 

& syn^ for to exile, 12 

To teche or to preche 

as Reason wcldis reherse ? 

say thus or say that, 

hys hede ys so^ fatte, 16 

& saythe lie wott not whate, 

nor wherof he spekythe : 

he Cryethe, he Crekji;he, 

he priethe, he pr^kythe, 20 

he Chydethe, he Chate^s, 

he pz-atythe, he patyrs, 

he Cleteryth, he claters, 

he medelythe, he smaters, 24 

he glosythe, he Flatt'rs ; 

or yf he speke playne, 

Then he lackythe brajTie ; 

he ys but A foole ; 28 

lett hym go to scole, 

on A iij" fotyde stole 

bat he may downe sytte, 

for he lackythe wytte ; 32 

& yfi' )>(ii he hytte 



J5^ nayle on the bade, 

hyt stondythe'' in no stede : 

The devyll, they sey, ys dede. 36 

hyt may so well« be. 

or else they wolde see 

ho)>erwyse, & flee 

From worldly vanyte, 40 

8c fowUe Covetosnes, 

& h.o\>er wi-echydnes, 

And fykylle falsenes, 

& varyabulnes 44 

vfith vnstedfastnes : 

And yf they stonde in dowte 

whoo browghte JjiS Ryme Abowte, 

My name ys Colyn Ciowte, 48 

And [I] purpose to shake owte 

all my Connyng Bagge, 

lyke A clarkely hagge ; 

for thowe my Ryme be Ragge[d] 52 

Tateryde & laggyde, 

Rvdely Rayne-betyn, 

Rusty & mothe-etyn, 

And yf thow take well b^t wythe, 56 

hyt bathe in hyt se^m pythe ; 

for, as fer as I Can see, 

hyt ys wronge with ecbe degre ; 

for the Temporalte 60 

Accusythe the spyrytualte ; 

The spiritualti Agayne 

dothe groge & complayne 

vppon the Temporall men : 64 

Thys,"* ecbe with hothyr Men, 

\>'^ tone ayenste )>at bother. 

Laymen say the Prelates are so haughty, they take no heed to 
feed their sheep, but only to pluck their wool. The Bishops per- 
vert justice, creep within noble walls to fatten their bodies, dis- 
dain to preach, and have little wit in their heads ; but two or three 
are good men, though hen-hearted ; they daren't reform abuses, are 

' The final ens and ems have curls over their backs. 
2 MS. fo. 3 MS. stondydytbe. ^ thus. 



XXX. Collyn Clout. Ixxi 

loth to hang the bell round the cat's neck, and have forgotten 
Becket's example. Other spiritual fathers hunt, hawk, fornicate, 
sell the grace of the Holy Ghost, eat flesh in Lent ; many are 
'bestiall and untaught,' drunken, can't construe their lessons, 
haunt ale-houses, adulterize with women, can hardly read. Mitres 
are bought and sold, simony prevails ; Bishops ride mules with 
golden trappings and stirrups, all richly clad, and grind poor Gil 
and Jack. 

See what lies the people tell of you ! Isn't it sad ? They say 
you Clergy and Monks pillage the people, and pervert the laws ; 
that Abbesses and Prioresses are as bad ; and that it's all the 
fault of the Bishops, who turn monasteries into mills, and abbeys 
into granges, to get money to spend among wanton lasses and 
live in luxury. Except you mend, you'll have a fall ; sour sauce 
after sweet meat ! 

But I must denounce also those laymen who kbour to bring 
the Church to the ground. Some argue against the Sacraments, 
Predestination, Christ's manhood &c. ; and, when good ale's in 
their foretop, rail against priestly dignities. Some have a smack of 
Luther's heresy, of Wycliffe's, of Huss's ; and say the clergy have 
much ; also that they can't keep their wives from them. 

Isn't it too bad that the laymen talk of how Prelacy is sold and 
bought ; how men of low degree are made prelates, and forget all 
humility ? Tes, you Prelates are so puft up with pride that no man 
may abide you! you lord it over lords, and those of royal blood ; and 
you boast and brag ! If our lords did but understand how Learn- 
ing would help them, they'd pipe you another dance ! But alas, 
they scorn Learning, do but hunt and hawk^, care nothing for 
politics ; and therefore have to crouch to you. Well do the com- 
monalty call you prelates ' Idols of Babylon,' proud upstarts from 
the dung-cart, you who now reign and rule, and late lay your drowsy 
heads in lowsy beds ! But mind your foot doesn't slip, and you 
go to the devil ! Ton are blinded by flatterers ! Why don't you 
rouse yourselves, and be lights to the people ? 

ISTow, teaching's only to be got from some poor clerk with but 
10£ a year, or some Friar. And it's your work ; you should do it ! 
What good can drunken old Doctor Dawpate teach, or a Priar 

^ See my Forewords to the Bahees Book, and to Queene Elizabethes Acha- 
demy &c. Also, especially, Starkey's Dialogue, Pt. 2, p. 182-6 (E. E. Text Soc. 
1871 (Extra Series). 



Ixxii - XXX. CoUyn Clout. 

that must preach to get money, and who sets people against their 
own clergy ? Ton Bishops are so taiuted with covetousness and 
ambition that you lead not your flocks. Laymen call you Barrels of 
Gluttony and Hypocrisy ! All is fish that comes to your net ! 
Tou build fine palaces, painted with loose heathen tales of lusty 
Venus and naked Diana, and "naked boyes strydynge, with wanton 
wenches winkyng." Tet [Wolsey !] beware of a Queen's yell- 
ing ! It's a busy thing for one man to rule a King ! (1. 899- 
992). Some of you have so checkmated great lords lately, that 
the rest dare do nothing except it please the " one that ruleth the 
roste alone" (1. 1021). No one can get at the King except 
through our President. But mind, man, you don't get cast into 
the mire ! Seek sound footing ; give up at once all your wrong 
schemes ! And don't murmur at me, Colyn Clout, for my writing : 
I write not against the good, but only the bad. Therefore let all, 
clergy or lay, who feel my reproof, amend. Don't be high and 
mighty, and order me off to the Fleet or the Tower ! Don't say, 
' See how the villain calls us Clergy shameless and merciless, 
incorrigible and insaciate, full of partiality, turning right into 
wrong!' Drop your threats of sawing, hanging, slaying, beating, 
those who go against your will, you who will not 

Nor of thejT noddy polles, 
Nor of theyr sely soules, 
Nor of some wytles pates 
Of dyuers great estates, 
As well as other men. 

(1. 1239-1249, Works, vol. i. p. 359.) 



. . sufFre this hoke 

By hoke ne by croke 

Prynted for to be^, 

For that no man shulde se 

Nor rede in any scrolles 

Of thejT di'onken nolles, 



May our Saviour Jesus send us grace to set right the things 
that are amiss, when His pleasure is ! 

Southey has well said of Skelton : " The power, the strangeness, 
the volubility of his language, the audacity of his satire, and the 
perfect originality of his manner, made Skelton one of the most 
extraordinary writers of any age or country." His Colyn Gloute 
gave rise, in 1533 or 1534, to even a fiercer diatribe against the 
whole crew of Clergy, Monks, and Friars, The Image of Ypocre- 
sye, edited from the unique copy in the Lansdowne MS 794 by 
Mr. Dyce in his SJcelton'' s Poetical Works ii. 413, and by me, 
with an Introduction, in my Ballads from Manuscripts, Vol. i. 
p. 167-274 (Ballad Society 1868). 

^ Some of the allusions in the Poem may have been introduced into it after 
it was first written. 



XXJi. Collyn Clout. 'K'X.Xl. The Fryarandthe Boy. Ixxiii 

Of old printed editions of Coli/n Cloute, Mr. Djce and Mr. 
Hazlitt between them note the following: — 

q. 1. "Here after foloweth a lytell boke called collyn clout, 
cowzpyled by mayster Skelton, poete Laureate. 

Qids consurgat milil adversuxn malignnntes cf*c. Cmn privilegio 
regali. 

[Colophon] Imprynted at Loudon by Thomas Godfrey. Cum 
privilegio regali," 8vo. black letter. D in eights, the first and 
last leaves blank ; at Woburn Abbey, the only copy known. 

2. Colophon : " Imprinted at London by me liycharde Kele 
dwellyng in the powltry at the long shop under saynt Myldredes 
chyrche," 12mo. no date. 30 leaves. Henry Huth Esq. has a 
copy. 

" An edition by Kele, 4to. n. d. is mentioned in Tgpogr. Antiq. 
iv. 305, ed. Dibdin : but qy. ?" says Mr. Dyce. 

3. Colophon : " Imprinted at London in Paules Churche yarde 
at the Sygne of the Rose by John Wyghte," 12mo, no date, 
b. 1., D 6 in eight, or 30 leaves ; in the British Museum. 

4. Col. "Imprynted at London by Jhon Wallye dwelling in 
Fosterlane," [? about 1550]. 8vo. b. 1. 30 leaves. A copy without 
the title-page was sold among Mr. JoUey's books in 1844. 

5. a. Col. " Imprynted at London in Paules Churche Yard at 
the Sygne of the Sunne by Anthony Kytson." 32 leaves ; in the 
British Museum. 

b. Colophon in some copies :—" Imprynted at London in 
Paules Churche yarde at the Sygne of the Lambe by Abraham 
Veale." 12mo. n. d. 32 leaves, the first and last blank ; in the 
British Museum. 

6. In " Pithy, pleasaunt, and profitable workes of maister Skel- 
ton, Poete Laureate. Nowe collected and nevvly published. Anno 
1568. Imprinted at London in Pletestreate, neare vnto saint 
Duustones churche by Thomas Marshe " 12mo., the 15th piece 
is " Colyn Clout." 

XXXI. The Fryar and the Boy. This merry and most popular 
poem has been printed at least 3 times in modern days from Manu- 
scripts : 1 by Mr. Thomas Wright in his series of Early English 
Poems, 1836, from a MS at Cambridge ; 2. by Mr. J. 0. Halliwell 
for the Warton Club 1855, in. " Early English Miscellanies in 
Prose and Verse from the Porkington MS.", p. 46-62, in 426 
lines ; 3. by Mr. Hales and myself in ' Bp. Percy's Folio MS ; 
Loose and Sv/mourous So7igs,' p. 9-28 ; which is the completest 
copy, though imperfect, in 507 lines. 

Of old printed editions we have 1. Wynkyn de Worde's, not 



Ixxiv XXXI. The Fryar and the Boy. 

dated, in 4to, black letter, 7 leaves : " Here begynneth a raery 
G-este of the Frei'e aud the Boye." This was reprinted by Mr. 
W, C, Hazlitt in his Early Popidar Poetry, ii. 54-81, with 
collations from the next edition, and contains 480 lines, in 6-line 
stanzas up to 1. 456, and in 4-line stanzas to the end. 2. Ed- 
ward Allde's in 4to, about 1585, says Mr. Hazlitt : if so, after 
Captain Cox's time ; but the two following editions, of which no 
copies have yet been catalogued, are licensed in the Stationers' 
Register A, leaf 22 ; Collier, p. 1 : — 

[1557-8] To mr. Joka Wally these bokes, called Weltlie and helthe / the 
treatise of the ifrere and the boye / stans puer ad mensom' ; a nother, youghte, 
charyte, and humylyte^ ; an a b c for cheldren, in englesshe, 'with syllabes ; 
also a boke called an hundredth mery tayles^ . . . ijs. 

[1568-9] 'Received of Jonn Aide for his lycense for pryntinge of a boke 
intituled the Freer and the boye . . . iiijd. 

Later, a second Part was added to the story, and it became a 
common chap-book. The reader should consult Mr. T. Wright's 
preface to his edition of 1836, and Mr. W, C. Hazlitt's to his of 
1866. 

The story of the poem is one of a boy, little Jack, whom his 
stepmother spites. She gets his father to make him tend the 
cattle, and gives him such bad food that he can't eat it. The boy 
gives the food to an old hungry man, and he in return grants the 
boy three wishes : 1. a Bow that'll always hit the mark ; 2. a Pipe 
that'll make every one who hears it, dance ; 3. that his Step- 
mother, whenever she looks spitefully at him, shall ' a rap let go.' 
At nightfall the cattle follow Little Jack's pipe; aud he goes 
home, asks his father for some supper, and gets a capon's wing, 
at which his stepmother scowls. She ' lets go a blast ' that makes 
the people laugh, and another when she scowls again ; so that she 
has to look good-tempered ; but she asks a Friar whom she loves, 
to revenge her. Next day the Friar goes to beat the boy ; but 
Little Jack shoots a bird for him, and when he goes into the 
briars to fetch it. Jack pipes up, and makes the Friar dance till 
he's scratcht so that he bleeds fast. Then he vows he'll not 
touch Jack if he'll stop the pipe ; and the boy lets him go tattered 
and bleeding home. At night the Stepmother complains to Jack's 
father, and he insists on hearing the Pipe. The Friar is bound 
to a post to stop his being obliged to dance; but when Jack 

> See No. XXXVIII below. « See No. XLVIII below. 

3 See No. XLIH below. 



X.XX1. Fryar a7id Boy. liX.X.11. Elynor Rumming. Ixxv 

begins, the Friar knocks his pate against the post, and Father, 
Stepmother, and every one near, dance through the streets, some 
rushing naked out of their beds to join in. When Jack's tired, 
he stops ; and here the original story ended, I believe, as the 
Porkington MS. does, with a moral ; but the Percy and De Worde 
copies give us a second scene, of the Friar summoning Jack before 
the Official or Archdeacon, for witchcraft. The Stepmother joins 
in ; but ' her tail blows,' and she has to stand mute. Then the 
Official orders Jack to play up ; which he does, and a mad scene 
follows,- — judge, proctors, suramoners, prisoners, etc., all dancing 
and smashing against one another. — At last, the Official promises 
to forgive Jack if he'll stop his Pipe, and he does so. 

XXXII. Elynor Bumming. This is a most life-like picture by 
Skelton of a Surrey ale-wife of the time of Henry VIII, and of a 
drinking-bout by country women at her inn. The coarse loose 
life of the time is painted with the faithfulness of a Dutch painter, 
and with a most powerful and humourous hand. The scene is 
laid by Skelton on a hill in Surrey, in a certain stead beside 
Leatherhead ; but tradition has it, that ' Elynour on the hyll ' 
dwelt at the foot of glorious clialk Boxhill, on the road from 
Leatherhead to Dorking — that hill which we Sunday walkers 
from the Working Men's College used to know so well, in storm 
of snow, fresh green of spring, parch of summer, and golden 
stretch of autumn at its foot, with the after tongues of flame-red 
leaves shooting up its dark-green Burford sides. — The place is 
alive with beauties of nature, and memories of distinguished 
men and happy days. But it's a coarse picture that Skelton sets 
before us, repulsive to any one who doesn't care to know how 
people really lived in ' the good old times ' when Mr. Froude 
tells us working men were, in the main, so much better oif than 
they are now. 

Elynour herself is scurvy and lowsy, slaver running from 
her lips, and dropping from her nose ; blear-eyed, jawed like a 
jetty, footed like a plane, and legged like a crane. Her customers 
are no better -. Kate, Cysly, and Sare, with their legs bare, 
their feet full unsweet, their kirtles all jagged, their smocks all 
ragged ; 



Some wenches come vnlassd, 
Some huswyues come vnbrased, 
Wyth tlieyr naked pappes, 
Tiiat flyppes and flappcs, 



That wygges and that wagges 
Lyke tawny safiton bagges ; 
A sorte of fonle drahhes 
All scurvy with scabhes. 



Ixxvi XXXll: Elynor Rumming. XXXJIJ. Nut brooun Maid. 

The hogs come and dirt in the house, the hens in the mash tub, 
which Elynour skims with her mangy fists — or doesn't. — Some 
women pay coin for their ale ; some a coney, or honey, a salt- 
cellar, spoon, hose, a pot, meal, a wedding ring, a husband's hood 
or cap, flax or tow, distaff or spinning wheel, thread, yarn, piece 
of bacon, &c. : all tmist have ale. Then they gossip and drink, let 
it out as they sit, etc. Then another and another lot of women 
come, who pledge all kinds of things for ale ; then drink, and 
tumble about. Among them, a pretended witch, and stubby-legd 
Margery Mylkeducke, are described, and a prickmedainty quiet 
dame (? a nun) who pledges her beads for her ale . . . 



. . . my fyngers ytche ; 
I haue ■written to mytche 
Of this mad mununjoige 
Of Elynour E-ununynge. 



Thus endeth the gest 
Of this worthy fest, 
Quod Skelton, Laureat. 



No separate old printed edition of this poem is known. It 
occurs in a collection of some of Skelton's works : 

1. " Here after foloweth certaine bokes cowzpyled by mayster 
SkeltoM, Poet Laureat, whose names here after shall appere. 

Speake Parot. 

The death of the noble Prynce Kynge Edwarde the fourth. 

A treatyse of the Scottes. 

Ware the Hawke. 

The Tunnynge of Elynoure Eummyng." 

[And 5 Minor Poems.] 

Colophon. " Thus endeth these lytle workes compyled by 
maister Skelton, Poet Laureat. Imprynted at London, in Crede 
Lane, by John Kynge and Thomas Marche." 12mo, no date. 

2. " Imprynted at London by Jhou Day." 12mo, no date. 

3. " Printed at London by Richard Laut, for Henry Tab, 
dwelling in Pauls church-yard, at the sygne of Judith." 12mo, 
no date. 

4. Mr. Dyce says ' An edition printed for W. Bonham, 1547, 
12mo, is mentioned by Warton, Sist. of U. Foetry, ii. 336 (note) 
ed. 4to. 

XXXIII. The Nutbrooun Maid. ' One of the most exquisite 
pieces of late Mediaeval poetry,' rightly says Mr. Hales in the 
Percy Folio MS. Ballads and JRoynances, iii. 174, where a poor 
shortened copy of the poem is printed in the text, and a full copy, 
from Eichard Hill's MS. at Balliol, in the notes. 

In answer to the reproach that women's love is utterly decayd, 
the Nutbrown Maid records " that they love true, and doe con- 



XXXIII. The Nutbrooun Maid. Ixxvii 

tinue." Her Lover — a squire of low degree — comes to her, a 
Baron's daughter, and tells her that he is a banisht man ; he must 
either die, or take to an outlaw's life in the greenwood, alone. 
She says ' I love but you alone.' He tells her that she'll soon get 
over it, and forget him ; but she declares she is ready to go with 
him, she loves but him alone. Then he tries to dissuade her : if 
she goes, people will say it's to fulfill her wanton will ; she'll have 
to bear a bow, and live as a thief; if he's hung, there'll be no one 
to help her; if not, she must endure thorns, snow, rain, and heat, 
lodge on the bare ground, get no dinner, ale, or wine, have no 
sheets but leaves and boughs ; must cut her hair to her ears, and 
her kirtle to her knees, and fight for him, if need be. But always 
she says ' I love but you alone.' Then her Lover tries another 
tack : women are soon hot, soon cold ; soon she'll change too. 
Then what a cursed deed it were for a baron's child to be fellow 
with an outlaw. But still she says she'll risk all for him : ' I love 
but you alone.' Comes the hardest trial : the Lover says he has 
another fairer maid than she, whom he loves better. But still 
comes the sweet iteration, ' I love but you alone ;' for his sake 
she'll wait on paramours, one or a hundred. The proof is over ; 
the Lover clasps his own dear love ; he is no banisht man, but the 
Earl of "Westmoreland's son, and will wed her as soon as he can. 

Here may ye see, that -women be 

in love, meke, kynd, & stable. 
Lett never men repreve them then, 

yf they be charytable, 
But rather pray God that we may 

to them be comfortable. . . 

The reader should turn to the poem itself again ; no doubt he 
knows it well. It runs with the Squire of Low Degree, p. xxiv. 
above. The first printed edition of it is in Arnold's Chronicle (at 
sig. N 6,) ' which is supposed to have appeared at Antwerp, from 
the press of John Doesborcke, about 1502.' The 2nd edition of 
Arnold was in 1521 ; to the 3rd edition no date has been assigned. 
Prom the first two editions Mr. Thomas Wright printed the 
Nutbrown Maid in his set of Early English poems in 1836, and 
Mr. W. C. Hazlitt reprinted this text in his, Early Popidar Poetry 
ii, 271-94. Mr. T. Wright says " I am told that in a manuscript 
of University College, Oxford, there is a list of books on sale at 
a stall in that city in 1520, among which is the ' Not-broon Mayd,' 
price one penny." I wrote to the Librarian of University to ask 



iTxviii XXX TV. The Shepherdz Kalendcv. 

if this list existed, and his substitute said he believed not. On 

leaf 31 of the Stationers' Eegister A (Collier i. IG) we find an entry 

John Kynge ys fyned for that he ded prynt the nuthrowne mayde witAout 
lycense ijs. vjd. 

We have now finisht Captain. Cox's "matters of storie" — thirty- 
three of the famous books of Elizabeth's early time, — and turn 
to the " philosophy both morall and naturall : beside poetrie, and 
astronomie, and oother hid sciences." 

II. Captain Cox's Books op Philosophy and PosTrvT. 

XXXIV. The Shepherdz Kalendei: Translated from Le com- 
post et Kalendrier des Bergers ; and of this handbook of Popular 
Philosophy, including 'astronomy, ethics, politics, divinity, 
physiognomy, medicine, astrology, and geography,' many editions 
before Captain Cox's time have come down to us. 

1. The Kalendayr of The Shyppars. [Colophon] Heyr endyth 
the kalendar of shyppars, translatyt of franch in englysh, to the 
lowyng of almyghty god, & of his gloryous mother mary, and 
of the holy cowrt of hy wyn : prentyt m parys the .xxiii. day of 
iuyng, oon thowsand .ccccc & III. Polio, A to M, in eights. 
With woodcuts. A unique copy at Althorp, imperfect. 

2. Printed by Julian Notary, about 1502, in folio, with wood- 
cuts, many of which Dibdin has copied in his edition of Herbert. 

3 A copy without printer's name or date, in the Bodleian ; 
but probably from Pynson's press. See Dibdin s Ames, ii. 526. 

4. Eobert Copland's translation, printed by Pynson in 1506^ 
Iblio, with woodcuts. An imperfect copy is at Althorp. 

5. Eobert Copland's new translation printed by himself, under 
Wynkyn de Worde's name, Dec. 8, 1508. No. G in Dibdin's list. 

6. Wynkyn de Worde. 24 Jan., 1528. No. 8 in Dibdin's list. 

7. The Kalender'newely augmented and corrected.' Imprynted 
by Wyllyam Powell a.d. 1556. 

8. An edition of 1559, newly augmented and coi-rected, is noted 

* So says Mr. Hazlitt, from whom I take this and like lists ; hut the Brit. 
Mus. Catalogue, under Ephemericles, Compost, 8561 f, has 1505?. The book 
has no printer's name, and uses woodcuts used hy Eobert and William Cop- 
lande, K iiii back ; and another, B iiii back, used or copied in the fioxburghe Bal- 
lads. Ballad Soc. Reprint, ii. 370. On first seeing it, I said this copy couldn't 
be Pynson's ; and on looking at it a little, fixed on William Coplande as its 
probable printer. Mr. Eussell Martineau afterwards examined it thoroughlj 
for the Museum, and found that the first date in the Calendar was 1560 (sign 
v) so that that is the probable date of the book. See note below, p. Ixxxiii. 



XXXIV. The Shepherdz Kalender. Ixxix 

in Ames ii. 735 from the Catalogue of Benet (Corpus) Coll. 
Library, Cambridge, p. 208 etc. 

9. An undated edition by John Waley ' newly augmented and 
corrected,' is among Malone's books in the Bodleian. Folio, 102 
leaves, or A to N in eights, except that M has only 6 leaves. 
Waley printed from 1546 to 1575. 

10. An edition by T. East, no date, folio. 

The book is a very curious and interesting mixture of all kinds 
of learning of the time, with many quaint cuts^ and certainly 
deserves reproducing. To show its range of subjects, I copy its 
Table of Contents from the 1604 edition ' printed at London by 
G. Elde for Thomas Adams, dwelling in Paules Church-yard at 
the signe of the white Lion. 1604,' which is evidently a page for 
page reprint, with changed spelling, of the edition of 1540-60 I 
say, — but 1505 ?, by Pynson ?, says the Brit. Mus. catalogue — of 
which an imperfect copy beginning on B ii. is in the British 
Museum (8561 f.). 

" This is the table of this present booke, of the Shepheards 
Kalender, drawne out of French into English, with many more 
goodly editions than be chaptered, newly put thereto. 

First the Prologue of the Authour, that saith that euery man 
may Hue Ixxiiii. yeares at the least, and they that die before 
that terme, it is by euill gouer[n]ment, and by violence, or out- 
rage of themselfe in their youth. Cap. primo. 

The second Prologue of the great maister Shepheard, that 
proueth true, by good argument, all that the first shepheard 
saith. cap. ii. 

Also a Kalender with the figures of euery Saint that is hallowed 
in the yeare, in the which is the figures, the houres, and the mo- 
ments, and the new Moones. cap. iii. 

The table of the mouable feasts, with the compound manuell. 

cap. iiii. 

The table to knowe and vnderstand euery day what signe the 
Moone is in. cap. v. 

Also in the figure of the eclipse of the Sunne and the ]\loone, 
the dales, houres, and moments. cap. vi. 

The trees and branches of vertues and vices. [See Dan Michel's 
Ayenbite of Inwyt, and Chaucer's Parson's Tale.] cap. vii. 

The paines of hell, and how that they be ordayned for euery 
deadly sinne, which is shewed by figures. cap. viii. 

' Mostly copied from the French. The planets, Moon etc. are each shown 
at the lork of the legs of a naked man or woman walking. 



Ixxx XXXIV. The Shepherdz Kalender, 

The garden and fielde of all vertues, that sheweth a man how 
he should know whether he be in the state of the grace of Grod 
or not, cap. ix, 

A nohle declaration of the seuen principall petitions of the 
Pater noster, and also the Aue Maria : of the three salutations, 
of which the Angel G-abriell made the first, the second was made 
by saint Elisabeth, and the third maketh our mother holy 
Church. cap. x. 

Also the Credo in English of the xii. articles of our faith, cap. xi. 

Also the ten commaundementes in English^ ; and the five com- 
maundementes of the Church Catholike. [Not given ; but they 
are " in tlie booke of Jesus," leaf E viii. not signed.] cap. xii. 

Also a figure of a man in a shippe, that sheweth the vnstable- 
nesse of this transitory worlde. cap. xiii. 

Also to teach a man to know the fielde of vertues, cap. xiiii. 

Also a Shepheardes ballad, that sheweth his frailty. cap. xv. 

Also a ballad of a woman shepheard, that profiteth greatly. 

cap. xvi. 

Also a ballad of death, that biddeth a man beware betime. 

cap. xvii. 

Also the ten commaundements of the deuill, and the reward 
that they shal haue that keepe them^. cap. xviii. 

^ One God onely thou shalte loue & worshyp perfytely. 

God in vayne thou shalte not swere, nor by y^ lie made truely. 
The sondayes thou shalt kepe, in seruinge God deuoutlye. 
Father & mother thou shalt honour, end shalt lyue longely. 
Mansleer thou shalt not be, in dede, ne wylljTigely. 
Lecherous thou shalt not be of thy hodj^, ne consentyngely. 
No mans goods thou shalt not stele, nor witholde falsely. 
False wytnesse thou shalte not bare, in any wyse lyingely. 
The worke of the lieshe desjTe not, but in maryage onely. 
The goodes of other, couet not to haue them vniustly. 

? Co2)lande's (called Pynson'sJ cd. leaf F 7 back, not signed. 

2 Here after foloweth the .x. commandements of the deuill. (sign. G 6 bacli. 
ed Coplande ?) 

'Ho so will do my commaundements, 
And kepe them well and sure, 
Shall haue in hell great torments 
That euermore shall endure. 
[1] Thou shalt not feare God, nor thinke of his goodnes. 
[2] To dampne thy soule, blaspheme God and his saintes, 
Euermore thine o\vne \s'ill be fast doing ; 
Deceaue men and women, and euer be swearing ; 
[3] Be dronken hardely vpon the holy day. 

And cause other to sinne, if thou may. 
[4] Father nor mother, loke thou loue nor drede, 

Nor helpe them neuer, though they haue nede. 
[5] Hate thy neighbour', and hurt him by enuy ; 
Murder, and shed man's blood hardely ; 
Forgeue no man, but be all vengeable. 



W 



XXXIV. The Shepherdz Kalender. Ixxxi 

Another ballad that sainct John sheweth in the Apocalipa, of 
the black horse that death rideth vpon. cap. xix. 

{Sign. A 3.] A ballad how princes and states should gouerne 
them. [? Lydgate's ' estate and order of euery degree'.] cap. xx. 

The trees and branches of vertues, and vices, with the seauen 
vertues against the seauen deadly sinnes. cap. xxi. 

Also a figure that sheweth howe the xii. signes raigne in mans 
body; and which be good, and which be bad, cap. xxii. 

A picture of the phisnomy of mans body, and sheweth in what 
parts the seauen planets hath domination in man, cap. xxiii. 

And after the number of the bones in mans body, followeth a 
picture that sheweth of all the veyns in the body, and how to 
bee let bloud in them. cap. xxiiii. 

To knowe whether a man be likely to be sicke or no, and to 
heale them that be sicke. cap. xxv. 

And also heere sheweth of the replexion of euill humors, and 
also for to dense them. cap. xxvi. 

Also, how men should gouerne them the iiii. quarters of the 
yeare. ca. xxvii. 

Also, how men should do, when phisieke doth faile them, for 
health of body and soule : made in a ballad royal. ["The Diatorie" 
in the Bahees Book, 1858, Pt. 1, p. 54-8, enlarged.] cap. xxviii. 

Also, to shew men what is good for the braine, the eyes, the 
throate, the breast, the heart and stomacke, properly declared. 

cap. xxix. 

Also the contrary, to shew what is euill for the braine, the 
eyes, the throat, the breast, the heart, and the stomaek, following 
by and by. cap. xxx. 

Also of the foure elements, and the similitude of the earth ; 
and how euery planet is one aboue another, and which be mascu- 
line & feminine. cap. xxxi. 

[7] Be lecherous in dede, and in touching delectable ; 

Breake thy wedlocke, and spare not ; [leaf Gr 7, not signed.] 

And to deceaue other hy falsehode, care not. 
[8] The goodes of other thou shalt holde falsly, 

And yelde it no more though they speake curtesly. 

[9] Company often with women, and tempte them to sinne ; 

[10] Desire thy neighbours wife, and his goodes to be thine. 

Do thus hardely, and care not therfore, 

And thou shalt dwell with me in hell euermore ; 

Thou shalt lye in frost and fjTC, with sicknes and hunger ; 

And iu a thousand pceces thou shalt be tome a sunder ; 

yet thou shalt dye, and neuer be deade ; 

Thy meate shalbe todes, and thy drinke boyling leade. 

Take no thought for the blud that God for thee shed, 

And to my kingdome thou shalt be straight led. 

Here foloweth the rewarde oi them that kepeth these commauhdementes 
uforesayde. [17 lines of verse. But no doubt the reader has had enough of it.] 



Ixxxiv XXXIV. The Shepherds Kalender. 

I must take a few of the Proverbs, from the end of the imper- 
fect copy of Jhon "Wally's edition, 1680 (?) in the Museum. 

IT And also an other, forget it nat : 

Kepe your owne home as doth a mouse ; 
For I tell you, the deuil is a wyly cat ; 
He -will spye you in another mans house. 

If And in espetiall, God to please, 
Desyre thou neuer none other mans thinge : 
Remember that many fingers is well at ease, 
That neuer ware on, no gay golde riage. 

U And this I tell you for good and all. 
Remember it, you that be wyse : 
That man or woman hath a great fall. 
The which slyde downe, and do neuer ryse. 

And one also forget not behynde, 
That man or woman is likely, good to be, 
That banisheth malyce out of their mynde. 
And slepeth euery night in charitie. 

I rede you worke by good councell. 
For that man is worthy to haue care 
That hath twise faU into a well, 
And yet the thirde tjTne cannot beware. 

Say that a fryer tolde you this : 
'H]e is wyse that doth forsake sinne : 
"Tjhen may we come to heauen blysse. 
"G]od giue vs grace, that place to winne. 

FINIS 

The following extract shows how Man is a microcosm, and 
includes in himself all animals : 

And they say that Grod ne formed creature for to inhabite the 
world, wyser then man ; for there is no conditione maner in a 
beaste, but that it is founde comprehended in man, Naturally, a 
man is hardy as the Lyon, true and worthy as the oxe, large and 
liberall as the Cock, auaricious as the Dog, and aspre as the 
Hart, debonayre and true as the Turtle, malicyous as the Leoparde, 
preuy and tame as the Doue, dolorous and guilefull as the Foxe, 
simple and debonayre as the lambe, shrewde as the ape, light as 
the horse, soft and piteable as [the] Beare, dere and precious as 
the Oliphant, good & holesome as the Unicorne, vyle & slouthfull 
as the Asse, fayre and proude as the Pecocke, glotonous as the 
"Wolfe, enuyous as the Bitch, debel & inobedient as the Nightin- 
gale, humble as the Pygeon, fel and folish as the Oystrich, pro- 
fytable as the Pysmare, dyssolute and vagabund as the Gote, 
spytefuU as the Pesaunt. Soft and meeke as the Chekin. Mou- 
ab'le and varying as the Fish. Lecherous as the Bore. Stronge 

» falne, ed. 1604. 



XXXIV. Shepherdz Kalender. XXXV. Ship ofFoolz. Ixxxv 

and puissant as the Camell. Traytor as the Mule. Aduised as 
the Mouse. Eeasonable as au aungell. And therefore he is called 
the little world, for he participeth of all, or he is called all crea- 
tures; for, as it is sayd, he participeth and hath condiciou of all 
creatures. — From Cap. xlii. The iudgementes of mans body. 
Back of L vij not signed. 

XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. Of this work there are two old 
versions, one in prose and another in verse. The prose version 
was translated by H. Watson, and printed by "Wyukyn deWorde 
in 1517 ; and of this a copy is among Deuce's books in the Bod- 
leian. 

From Herbert, in Ames i. 158, we find that "Watson says : " this 
booke hathe ben made in Almayne language / and out of Almayne 
it was translated in to Latyn / by mayster Jacques Locher / and 
out of Latyn in to rethoryke Frensshe. I haue consydered that 
the one delyteth hym in latyn / the other in Frensshe / some in 
ryme / and the other in prose / for the whiche cause I haue done 
this " in prose. — " Consyderynge also that the prose is more 
familiar vnto euery man than thG ryme, I, Henry Watson, haue 
reduced this present boke in to our maternall tongue of Englysshe 
out of Frensshe / at y^ request of my worshypfull mayster wynken 
de worde / through the entysement and exhortacyon of the excel- 
lent prynces Margarette / couwtesse of E.ychemonde and Derby / 
and grandame vnto our moost naturall souerayne lorde kynge 
Henry y^ VIII. whome Jhesu preserue from all encombrau/2ce. — 
*\ By the shyppe we may vuderstande the folyes and erroures that 
the mowdoynes are in / by the se this presente worlde / — Syth 
that it is so / we must serche this booke, the whiche may wel be 
called 'the doctrynall of fooles.'" Imprynted— M. CCCCC. & 
xvii. The nynthe yere of the reygne of our souerayne kynge 
Henry the viii. The xx. daye of June. 

The poetical version of The Ship of Fools is the chief work of 
Alexander Barklay, who was probably a Scotchman, was " educated 
at Oriel College, Oxford, accomplished his academical studies by 
travelling, and was appointed one of the priests or prebendaries 
of the college of saint Mary Ottery in Devonshire. Afterwards 
he became a Benedictine monk of Ely monastery ; and at length 
took the habit of the Franciscans at Canterbury." {Warton, ii. 
419, ed. 1840). He finished " The Shyp of Folts, translated in 
the colege of saynt Mary Otery, in the counte of Devonshyre, 



Ixxxvi - XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. 

oute of Laten, Frenche, and Dotch, into Englishe tonge, by 
Alexander Barclay, preste and chaplen in the sayd colledge, 
M. CCCCC. VIII." John Cawood printed a second edition of 
the book in 1570. " About the year 1494," says Wartou, i. 420 
Sebastian Brandt, a leai'ned civilian of Basil, and an eminent 
philologist, published a satire in German with this title [If^avis 
Stultifera Mortalium]. The design was, to ridicule the reigning 
vices and follies of every rank and profession, under the allegory 
of a Ship freighted with Fools of all kinds, but without any variety 
of incident or artificiality of fable ; yet although the poem is 
destitute of plot, and the voyage, of adventures, a composition of 
such a nature became extremely popular. It was translated into 
French ; and, in the year 1488, into tolerable Latin verse by 
James Locher, a German, and a scholar of the inventor Brandt. 
From the original, and the two translations, Barklay formed a 
large English poem, in the balade or octave stanza, with consider- 
able additions gleaned from the follies of his countrymen. It was 
printed in 1509 by Pynson^, whose name occurs in the poem: 

How be it the charge Pynson has on me layde, 
"With many fooles our nauy not to charge. 

(leaf 38 back, Cawood's ed. 1670.) 

Barclay's paraphrase is not at all so bright or biting as one would 
have hoped it would be ; nor do his special envoys or addresses to 
each class of Fools at the end of his enlargements of the Latin 
text, give one a good sketch of the vices and ways of his time : 
still, one is thankful to have them ; and as each of us is bound to 
think first, wherein he is a fool himself, suppose we get Mr. G. 
Parker of the Bodleian to give us Brandt's and Barclay's sketches 
of us Fools who ' books assemble,' — though we do read some — 
adding Watson's translation too, to show how he treats his original. 
For more, the reader can turn to the volume itself : he'll enjoy its 
quaint cuts, if he doesn't the text. 

[P. 1. 16. Jur. Seld. (Bodl. Libr.).] 

The Shyp of folts. 

translated \n the College 

of saynt mary Otery in the eounte of Deuonshyre : out of Laten / 
Frenche / and Docbe into Englj'^sshe tonge by Alexander Barclay 

* The Granville copy in the Brit. Mus. is in beautiful condition, though 
cut down grievously by one of that cursed race of binders. 



XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. Ixxxvii 

Preste : and at that tyme Chaplen in the sayde College, translated 
. . . 1508. Inprentyd in the Cyte of London in Fletestre {sic) at the 
signe of Saynt George By Rycharde Pynson to hys Coste and charge : 
Ended . . . 1509. The 13 day of December. 

[The title-page is covered with one large Coat of Arms and a 
Crest above it : at the back of this, towards the bottom of the 
page, is the title copied above.] 

Cf°'- 12.] Argumentum in narragoniam. 

AD humani generis foelicitatem : doeumentumque salnberrimum : stul- 
torum classis ad Narragoniam construeta fulget : quam quidem omnes 
conscendunt : qui de se mita / veritatis / et aperto sani intellectus calle 
vagantes : in varias et vmbrosas mentis tenebras : ac corporis iilecebras 
Sat ra corruunt. Potuisset presens hie noster libellus / non in- 

concinne satyra nuncupari : sed auctorem nouitas tituli 
delectauit. aicuti enim prisci satyrici : variis poematibus contextis : 
[etc.]. 

HEre after foloweth the Boke named the Shyp of Foles of the worlde : 
translated out of Laten / Erenche & Doehe into Englysse in the 
Colege of saynt Mary Otery By me Alexander Barclay to the felicite 
and moste holsom instruccion of ma?2.kynde the whiche conteyneth al 
suche as wandre from the way of trouth and from the open Path of 
PfolPSl holsom vnderstondynge & *wysdom: fallynge into 

dyuers blyndnesses of tke mynde / folysshe sensualytees / 
and vnlawful delectacions of the body. This present Boke myght haue 
Satyra inter- ben callyd nat inconuenyently the Satyr (that is to say) 
pretatur repre- the reprehencion of foulysshnes. but the neweltye of the 
^° '°' name was more plesant vnto the fyrst actour to call it 

the Shyp of foles : For in lyke wyse as olde Poetes Satyriens in dyuers 
Poesyes coreioyned repreued the synnes and ylnes of the peple at that 
tyme lyuynge : so and in lyke wyse this our Boke representeth vnto 
the iyen of the redars the states and cowdicions of men : so that euery 
man may behold within the same the cours of his lyfe and his mys- 

gouerned maners / as he sholde beholde the shadowe of 
stultMum. *^^ fyg^r^ of ^is visage within a bright Myrrour. But 

concernynge the translacion of this Boke : I exhort the 
reders to take no displesour for that it is nat translated word by worde 
acordinge to the ve^-ses of my actour. For I haue but only drawen 
into our moder tunge / in rude langage, the sentences of the verses as 
nere as the parcyte of my wyt wyl suffer me / some tyme addynge / 
somtyme detractinge and takinge away suche thinges a[s] semethe me 
necessary and superflue. wherfore I desyre of you reders, pardon of 
my presumptuous audacite, trustynge that ye shall holde me excused 
if ye consyder the scarsnes of my wyt and my vnexperfc youthe. I haue 
ji many places ouerpassed dyuers poetical digressions and obscurenes 
of Fables, and haue concluded my worke in rude langage^ as shal 
apere in my translacion. But the speciyl cawse that mouethe me to 
this besynes is, to auoyde the execrable inconuenyences of ydilnes, 

' What follows on fol. 12 6 is not translated or paraphrased. 



Ixxxviii XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. 

whyche (as sai^it Bernard saytk) is moder of al vices : and to the vtter 
derisiore of obstynat men delitynge them in folyes & mysgouernance. 
But bycause the name of this boke semeth to the redar to procede of 
derysion : and by that mean that the substance therof shulde nat be 
profitable : I wyl aduertise you tliat this Boke is named the Shyp of 
foles of tlie worlde : For this woi'lde is nought els but a tempestuous 
se, in the whiche we dayly wander and are caste in dyuers tribulacions, 
paynes, and aduersitees : some bj^ ignoraunce, and some by wilfulnes : 
wherfore suche doers ar worthy to be called foles, syns they gyde them 
nat by reason as creatures resonable ought to do. Therfore the fyrst 
actoure, willynge to deuyde suche foles from wysemen and gode lyuers, 
hathe ordeyned vpon the se of this worlde this present Shyp to con- 
teyne these folys of the worlde / whiche ar in great nomber. So that 
who redeth it, perfytely consyderynge his secrete dedys / he shall not 
lyghtly excuse hym selfe out of it / what so euer good name that he 
hath outwarde in the mouth of the comontye / And to the entent / that 
this my laboure may be the more pleasaunt vnto lettred men / I haue 
adioyned vnto the same the verses of my Actour, with dyuerse con- 
cordau?2ces of the Bybyll to fortyfy my wrytyuge by the same / & also 
to stop the enuyous mouthes (If any suche shal be) of them that by 
malyce shall barke ayenst this my besynes. 

[foi. 13.] De inutilibus libris. 

Inter precipuos pars est mihi reddita stultos 

Prima: rego docili vastaque vela manu. 

En ego possideo multos : quos rare libellos 

Perlego : turn lectos negligo : nee sapio. 

Invtilitas librorum. 
Quod si quis percurrere omnes scriptores cupiat opprimetur : turn 
librorum multitudine : tum diuersa scribentium varietate : vt hand 
facile verum possit elicere. distrahit enim librorum multitudo. et faci- 
endi libros plures non est finis. 

Diodorus Sicu- PEimus in excelsa teneo quod naue rudentes 
3if. Dabiti^ ^^' Stultiuagosque sequor comites per flumina vasta : 
liber nescienti- Non ratione vacat certa : sensuque latenti : 
bus litteras. Congestis etenim stultus confido libellis 

Spem quoque nee paruam coUecta volumina praebeut : 
Calleo nee verbum : nee libri sentio mentem. 
Attamen in magno per me seruantur honore : 
Pulueris et cariem plumatis tergo flabellis. 
Ast vbi doctrine certamen voluitur : inquam 
Aedibus in nostris librorum culta supellex 
Eminet : et chartis viuo contentns opertis : 
Ptolomens Quas video ignorans : iuuat et me copia sola. 
cSmeLlnit. Constituit quondam diues Ptolomeus : haberet 
Josephus lib. Vt libros toto quesitos vndique mundo 
^'j- Quos grandes rerum thesauros esse putabat : 

[fol. 136.] Non tamen archane legis documenta tenebaL : 

Quis sine non poterat vite disponere cursum 
Qui parum En pariter teneo numerosa volumina / tardus 
studet paa-um Pauca lego : viridi contentus tegmine libri. 



XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. Ixxxix 

proficit gio. in (Jm- vellem studio sensus turbare frequenti P 
de!'prox?"sac^! ^^^ t^™ sollicitis aiiimum confundere rebus 
sori. {sic). Qui studet / assiduo motu / fit stultus et aniens. 

Seu studiam : seu non : dominus tamen esse vocabor 
Et possum studio socium disponere nostro : 
Qui pro me sapiat : doctasque examinet artes. 
At si cum doctis versor : concedere malo 
Omnia : ne cogar fors verba latina profari 
Theutonicos inter balbos sum maximus auctor : 
Cum quibus incassum sparguntur verba latina. 
Prouerbio. v. flf. O vos doctores : qui grandia nomina fertis : 
Mi^poft'origi- E'espicite antiquos patres : iurisque peritos. 
n'em Persius. Non in candidulis pensepant dogmata libris : 
("<'•) Arte sed ingenua sitibundum pectus alebant. 

Auriculis asini tegitur sed magna caterua : 

^ Here begynneth the foles : and first, inprofytable bokes. 

I Am tlie firste fole of all the hole nauy 

To kepe the pompe / the helme and eke the sayle 

For this is my mynde / this one pleasoure haue I 

Of bokes to haue grete plenty and aparayle 

I take no wysdome by them : nor yet auayle 

Nor them perceyue nat : And then I them despyse 

Thus am I a foole and all that sewe that guyse. 

Diodorus Sicu- THat in^ this shyp the chefe place I gouerne 
Ecolesi. xij. ^7 tliis wyde see with folys wanderynge 
The cause is playne / and easy to dyscerne 
Styll am I besy bokes assemblynge 
For to haue plenty it is a plesaunt thynge 
Dabitur liberne In my conceyt and to haue them ay in honde 
scentibus hte- -g^^ ^j^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ j ^^^ vnderstonde 



ras esaie. xxiz. 



But yet I haue them in great reuerence 

And honoure sauynge them from fylth and ordure 

By often brusshynge / and moche dylygence 

Full goodly bounde in pleasaunt couerture 

Of domas / satyn / or els of veluet pure 

I kepe them sure ferynge lyst they sholde be lost 

For in them is the connynge wherin I me bost 

right.] ' ^^^ ^^ i^ fortune that any lernyd men 
Within my house fall to disputacion 
I drawe the curtyns to shewe my bokes then 
That they of my cu?inynge sholde make probacion 
I kepe nat to fall in altercacion 

And whyle they comon my bokes I turne and wynde 
For all is in them / and no thynge in my mynde 

^ Printed ' u.' 

2 The book is foliated properly, like the Vernon MS, the 2 pages shown on 
opening the book, being & folium, and the two here being headed Folium (on 
the left page,) XIIII (on the right). Later printers stupidly transferred the 



xc 



XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. 



Ptolomeo* 
philadetemus 
meniinit Jo 
Sephus. li. lij. 
(sic.) 



Qui parum 
studet parum 
proficit glo. 
L. Tnicuique C 
dex sacr. scri. 
(«tc.) 



Tholomeus the riche causyd longe agone 
Ouer all the worlde good bokes to be sought 
Done was his commaundement anone 
These bokes he had and in his stody brought 
Whiche passyd all erthly treasoure as he thought 
But neuertheles he dyd hym nat aply 
Unto theyr doctryne / but lyued vnhappely 

Lo in lyke wyse of bokys I haue store 
But fewe T rede / and fewer vnderstande 
I folowe nat theyr doctryne nor theyr lore 
It is ynoughe to bere a boke in hande 
It were to moche to be it {sic) suche a bande 
For to be bounde to loke within the boke 
I am content on the fayre couerynge to loke 

Why sholde I stody to hurt my wyt therby 
Or trouble my mynde with stody excessyue 
Sythe many ar whiche stody right besely 
And yet therby shall they neuer thryue 
The fruyt of wysdom can they nat contryue 
And many to stody so moche are inclynde 
That vtterly they fall out of theyr mynde 

Eche is nat lettred that nowe is made a lorde 

Nor eche a clerke that hath a benefyce 

They are nat all lawyers that plees doth recorde 

All that are promotyd are nat fully wyse 

On suche chaunce nowe fortune throwys hir dyce 

That thoughe one knowe but the yresshe game 

yet wolde he haue a gentyll ma?inys name 

So in lyke wyse I am in suche case 

Thoughe I nought can I wolde be callyd wyse 

Also I may set another in my place 

Whiche may for me my bokes excercyse 

Or els I shall ensue the comon gyse 

And say concedo to euery argument 

Lyst by moche speche my latyu sholde be spent 

[foLXV^left.] I am lyke other Clerkes whiche so frowardly them gyde. 
That after they ar onys come vnto promocion 
They gyue them to plesour theyr stody set asyde. 
Theyr Auaryce couerynge with fayned deuociou. 
yet dayly they preche : and haue great derysyon 
Agaynst the rude Laymen : and al for Couetyse. 
Though theyr owne Conscience be blynded witA that vyce. 

name folium to a leaf, two pages back to back, and sheepish librarians etc. 
have followed suit, re-leafing already-foUated MSS, under the idea that thoy 
were foliating them for the first time. The difference between a leaf and a 
folium has yet to be drilled into the bibliographic mind. ^ Printed XX. 



XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. xci 

But if I durst trouth playnely vtter and expresse. 
This is the special cause of this Inconuenyence. 
That greatest foles / and fullest of lewdnes 
Hauynge least wyt : and symplest Science 
Ar fyrst promoted : and haue greatest reuerence. 
For if one can flater / and here a hawke on his Fyst 
He shalbe made Person of Honyngton or of Clyst^ 

But lie that is in Stody ay ferme and diligent. 

And without al fauour prechyth Chrystys lore 

Of al the Comontye novre adayes is sore shent. 

And by Estates thretened to Pryson oft therfore. 

Thus what auayle is it / to vs to Stody more : 

To knowe outher scripture / trouth / wysedom / or vertue 

Syns fewe / or none without fauour dare them shewe. 

Piouer. qutnto. But O noble Doctours / that worthy ar of name : 

Consyder our olde faders : note wel theyr diligence : 
Ensue ye theyr steppes : obtayne ye suche fame. 

ff. de origine. As they dyd lyuynge : and that by true Prudence. 

oH-inem!'"^'' Within theyr hartys they planted theyr scyence 

And nat in plesauwt bokes. But nowe to fewe suche be. 
Therfore in this Shyp let them come rowe with me. 

^ The Enuoy of Alexander Barclay Translatour exortynge the Foles 
accloyed with this vice to amende theyr foly. 

SAy worthy doctours and Clerkes curious : 

What moueth you of Bokes to haue such nomber. 

Syns dyuers doctrines throughe way contrarious. 

Doth mannys mynde distract and sore encomber. 
Translatio a Alas blynde men awake / out of your slomber 
somniantibus. j^^^ •£• yg ^yj nedys your bokes multyplye 

With diligence endeuer you some to occupye. 

Now for Watson's translation. 

[Douce B. subt. 254.] 

The grete shyppe of fooles of this worlde. 

[Title wanting ; tlie Colophon follows.] 

^ Thus endeth the shyppe of fooles of this worlde. Imprynted at 
Londod {sic) in flete strete by Wywkyn de Worde. the yere of our 
lorde. M. CCCCC. and. xvii. ^ The nynthe yere of the reygne of our 
souerayne lorde kynge Henry the viii. The. xx. daye of June. 

^ Argument of the shyppe of Fooles of this worlde. 

THis booke compyled / for the felycyte and salute of all the humayne 
gendre / and dyrecte the shyppe of fooles of this trawsy tory worlde / in 
the whiche ascewdeth all they that vageth frome the playne exhortacyow 
of the intellectyf vnderstawdynge in transmutable and of obscure 

' Compaie Latimer etc. on t>iis point of unfit persons made parsons. 



^cii XXXV. The Ship of Foolz. 

thoughtes of the frayle body / wlier by tlieyr decyuable wyttes / and 
bye enterpryses / within shorte space inuade our barge. Wherfore 
this present boke may be called satyre / notwitbstaudynge that the 
fyrste auctoure dyde delyte hym in the uewe intytulacyon of this pre- 
sent boke / for ryght so as by the poesy es and fyccyons / the auncyent 
poetes dyde correcte the vyces and the fragylytes of mortall men. 

% Semblably this present pagyne specyfyeth before theyr syght the 
estate and condycyon of men / to the ende that a myrroure they beholde 
the meurs and rectytude of lyfe Neuertheles tbynke not you lectours 
that I haue worde by worde dyrecte and reduced this present booke 
out of Frensshe in to our maternall tongue of Englysshe / for I Laue 
onely (as recyteth Flaccus) take entyerely the substaunce of the scryp- 
ture / in esperannce that my audace presumptuous sholde be pardonned 
of the lectoures / hauynge aspecte vnto the capacyce of my tendre 
yeres / and the imbelycyte of my lytell vnderstandynge / in leuynge 
the egressyons poetyques and fabulous obscurytees / in a cheuynge in 
werke in facyle sentence and famylyer style / in supplyenge all the 
r*SiL'n A i 6 1 seders to haue me for* excused yf that I haue fay led in 
ony thynge. 

^ Here after ensueth the fyrste chapytre. 

*I[ Of bookes inutyle. capitulo. primo. 

% The fyrste foole of the shypps' I am certayne 

That with my handes dresse the sayles all 

For to haue bookes I do all my besy payne 

Whiche I loue not to rede in specyall 

Nor them to se also in generall 

Wherfore it is a prouerbe all aboute 

Suche thynketh to knowe that standeth in doubte. 

[A woodcut here.] 

[Sign. A. ii.] YOnge folkes that entende for to knowe dyuers thywges 

approche you vnto this doctryne and it reuolue in your 
myndes organyques to the ende that ye maye comprehende and vnder- 
stande the substaunce of it / and that ye be not of the nombre of the 
fooles that vageth in this tempesteous flode of the worlde. And you 
also the whiche haue passed the flourynge aege of your youthe / to the 
end that and you be of the nombre of the fooles moundaynes that ye 
maye lerne somwhat for to detraye you out of the shyp stultyfere. 
"Wherfore vnderstande what the fyrste foole sayth beynge in the grete 
shyppe of of" fooles. •[[ I am the fyrste in the shyppe vagaunte with the 
other fooles. I tourne and hyse the cordes of the shyppe saylynge ferre 
within the see. I am founded full euyll in wytte and in reasow. I am 
a grete foole for to affye me in a grete multytude of bokes. I desyre 
alway and appetyteth newe inuencyons compyled mystycally / and newe 
bookes / in the whiche I can not comprehende the substaunce'^ / nor 
vnderstande no thynge. But I doo my besy cure for to kepe them 
honestly frome poudre and dust. I make my lectrons and my deskes 

* Printed ' shyppf.' ^ gic. 3 Printed 'substanuce.' 



XXXV. The Ship ofFoolz. xciii 

clene rygli[t] often. My mansyon is all repylnysshed with bokes / 1 
solace me ryght often for to se them open without ony thynge com- 

pylynge out of them. *([ Ptolomeua was a ryche maw the 
phnadriphu8 whiche constytued (sic) and also commaunded that they 
cuius memini. _ sholde serche how thorough euery regyon of the worlde 
Jo3epLns.li.xij. ^j^g ruoost excellentest bookes that myght be founden. 

And whan they had brought theym all / he kepte theym 
for a greate treasoure. And that not withstandynge he ensued not the 
ensygnementes nor the doctryne of the dyuyne sapyence / how be it 
, A •• A T ^^^'' ^^ coude dyspose nothynge* of the Ij'fe without is / 

L ign. . 11. .] ^ijg^^ bookes someuer he had / nor compose ony thynge 
to the relefe of his body at that tyme. I haue redde in dyuers bookes / 
in the whiche I haue studyed but a lytell whyle / but oftentymes I 
haue passed the tyme in beholdynge the dyuersytees of the couerynges 
of my bookes. It sholde be grete foly to me to applye by excessyue 
study myne vnderstandynge vnto so many dyuers thynges / where 
through I myghte lese my sensuall intellygence / for he that procureth 
too knowe ouermoche / and occupyeth hymself by excessyue studye / is 
in daunger for to be extraught from hymself also euerychone is dys- 
pensed / be he a clerke or vnderstande he nothynge yet he bereth the 
name of a lorde. I maye as well commytte one in my place the whiche 
thynketh for to lerne seyence {sic) for hym and for me. And yf that I 
fynde my selfe in ony place in the company of wyse men to the ende 
that I speke no latyn / 1 shall condyscende vnto all theyr preposycyons 
p^ , for fere that I sholde not be reproched of that that I haue 

so euylly lerned. ^ O doctours the whiche bereth the 
name and can nothywge of seyence / for to eschewe grete dyshonoure 
come neuer in the company of lerned men / our auncyent faders here 
before dyde not lerne theyr repplendysshynge seyence in the multy tude 
of bookes / but of an ardaunte desyre and of a good courage. They had 
not theyr spyrytes so vnstedfaste as the clerkes haue at this present 
tyme / it were more propyre for suche folke for to here asses eeres 
than for to bare the names of doctoures and can nothynge of cunnynge. 

[Fr. Douce's MSS. notes on fly-leaf at beginning of book] 

" Some of the signatures are misplaced, but the book is other- 
wise perfect, unless it want a title, which is not clear, as there are 
6 leaves prefixed to signature A. 

" I know of no other copy of this edition, but have seen one 
printed on vellum with the date 1509, 4to, in the national library 
at Paris. 

" Messrs. Brunet and Dibdin, the former in his ' Manuel du 
Libraire,' and the latter in his Bibl. Spenceriana, iii. 204, have 
erroneously ascribed the above edition of 1509 to the press of 
Pynson, and confounded it with the metrical translation by Barclay, 
which was printed in that year by Pynson in folio. 

" The above French copy on vellum has a leaf at the beginning 
with (X The shyppe oe pooles on a scroll, [etc. . . .] 



xciv XXXY. The ShipofFoolz. 

" This is the Colophon : d Thus eiideth the shyppe of fooles of 
this worlde. Enprynted at London in Flete strete by Wyukyn de 
Worde [. . .] MCCCC. ix [sic—G. P.]. d The fyrste yere of the 
reygne of [. .] Henry the VIII. The vi. daye of Julii." 

[In pencil by F. D.] " Some cuts used in ' Cock Lorels bote^.' 
The Duke of Eoxburgh's copy for £63." 

Long as the extracts are from the two versions of Brandt's 
book, I venture to take another from Barclay's englishing, which 
justifies his captaining this Ship of Fools : — 

Barclay the Translatour to^ the Foles. 

nnO Shyp ! galantes ! the se is at the ful ; 
-*- The wynde vs calletb, our sayles ar displayed ; 
Where may we best argue P at Lyn or els at Hulle ? 
To vs may no hauen in Englonde be denayd. 
Why tary we P the Ankers vp wayed. 
If any corde or Cabyl vs hurt / let, outher hynder, 
Let slyp the ende / or els hewe it in sender. 

Eetourne your syght ; beholde vnto the shore ! 
There is great nomber that fayne woldbe aborde, 
They get no rowme, our Shyp can holde no more. 
Haws in the Cocke ! gyiie them none other worde. 
God gyde vs from Eockes / quicsonde, tempest, & forde ! 
If any man of warre / wether / or wynde, apere, 
My selfe shal trye the wynde, and kepe the Stere. 

But I pray you reders, haue ye no dysdayne 

Thoughe Barclay haue presumed of audacite 

This Shyp to rule, as chefe mayster and Captayne. 

Though some thynke them selfe moche worthyer than he. 

It were great maruayle forsoth, S3'th he hath be 

A scoler longe, and that in dyuers scoles. 

But he myght be Captayne of a Shyp of Poles. 

But if that any one be in suche maner case 

That he wyl chalange the maystershyp fro me, 

yet in my Shyp can I nat want a place, 

For in euery place my selfe I oft may se. 

But this I leue, besechynge eche degre 

To pardon my youth e and to[o] bolde interprise ; 

For harde it is, duely to speke of euery vyce. 

No» mihi si YoT yf I had tunges an hundreth, and wyt to fele 

hneue centum ai iU- x i i ^ ii 

Bint oraquB AI tniDges natural and supernatui-all 
centum : ferrea A thousand mouthes, and voyce as harde as stele, 
sceierum com. ^^^^ 0^'^^'} ^^ne all the seuen Sciences lyberal, 
prehendere yet cowde I neuer touche the vyces all, 

' A Iragment of C. L. is in the Douce collection. ^ tho, ori(/. 



XXXV. ShipofFoolz. XXXVI. Danielz Breamz. xcv 

formas : Omnia And syn of the woi'lde, ne theyr braunches comprehende, 
:™"nS'a Nat thoughe I lyued vnto the worldes ende. 

possem. 

But if these vyces whiche raankynde doth incomber 

Were clene expellyd, and vertue in theyr place, 

I cowde nat haue gathered of fowles so great a nomber, 

Whose foly from them out-chaseth goddys grace. 

But euery man that knowes hym in that case, 

To this rude Boke let hym gladly intende. 

And lerne the way his lewdnes to amende. 

XXXVI. Danielz Breamz. I cannot find this in the British 
Museum or at Lambeth, in Hazlitt's Sandhooh, or Collier's 
Bibliograpliical Catalogue, and therefore copy Lowndes's entry of 
it, p. 586, col. 1, ed. Bohn : — "The Dreames of Daniell, with the 
Exposycions of the xij Sygnes, devyded by the xij Monthes of the 
Yeare ; and also the Destenys both of Man and Woman borne in 
eche Monthe of the Tere. Very necessarye to be knowen. Im- 
printed by me Eobert Wyer. 16mo. Contains [A B C D E] F in 
fours. Mr. W. Brenchley Rye of the Museum says that ' Heber's 
copy sold 35 years ago for the moderate sum of two shillings.' 

XXXVII. The BooJce of Fortune. This is supposed to be a 
little verse tract in the Lambeth Library by Sir Thomas More ; 
but on seeing it, I felt sure that this tract was, — as the printers 
of More's WorTces said it was, — meant only as a Preface to the 
Booke of Fortune ; for More must refer to that Book in the last 
lines of his own poem ; he cannot have meant that the few French 
lines in bis (or Wyer's) tract, and the English ones he puts into 
Fortune's mouth, were the real Booke of Fortune. The title of 
Wyer's tract is 

" d The Boke of the fayre GI-enty[l]-/woman, that no man 
shulde / put his truste, or confy-/dence in : that is to say, / Lady 
Fortune : / flaterynge euery man / that coveyteth to / haue all, 
and specyally, / them that truste in / her, she decey-/ueth them / 
at laste." / (over a woodcut of " The Lady Fortune.") Colophon. 
" Imprynte by me Robert Wyer dwellyn-/ge, in Saynt Martyns 
parysse, in / the Duke of Suffolkes rentes / besyde Charynge / 
Crosse. / Ad imprimendum /Solum"/. 

4to, 8 leaves, A (not signed) and B in fours, no date. 

On the back of the title is, in 3 stanzas, 

d The Prologue 

As often as I cowsydre these olde noble clerkes, 
I'oetis, Oratours, & Phylosophers, — sectes thre — ■ 



xcvi XXXVII. The Booke of Fortune. 

Howe wonderfull they were in all theyr werkes, 
Howe eloquent, howe inuentyue to euery degra, 
Halfe amased I am, and as a deed tre 
Stond stjdl, ouer rude for to brynge forth 
Any fruyte or sentence that is ought worth. 

a Neuerthelee, though rude I he, in all co;;tryuyng 
Of mattisrs, yet ":o)Mwhat to make I need not to care ; 
I se many occupycd in the same thynge. 
Lo ! vnlerned men nowe a dayes wyll not spare 
To wryte, to bable, theyr myndes to declare, 
Trowynge them selfe, gay fantasyes to drawe, 
When all theyr cunnynge is not worth a strawe. 

Q Some in french Cronycles gladly doth presume, 
Some in Englysshe blyndly wade and wander, 
Another in latin bloweth forth a dark fume. 
As wyse as a great hedded Asse of Alexandre ; 
Some in Phylosophye, lyke a gagelynge gandre 
Begynneth lustely the browes to set vp. 
And at the last concludeth in the good ale cup. 

Q Finis Prologus. 
quod. T. M. 

On leaf A ii (not signed) is the reduced woodcut of St. J ohn 
writing his Revelation (with a printer's ornament on the left), 
used on the title-page of Robert Wyer's 1542 edition of Andrew 
Boorde's Dyetary (see my edition for the E. E. Text Soc. 1870), 
and then two verses of French, with a printer's border on each 
side 



Fortune perverse, 
Qui le monde versse 
Toult a ton desyre, 
Jamais tu nas cesse 
Plaine de finesse, 
Et y prens pleasire 



(I Par toy ve//nent maulx, 
Et guerres mortaulx, 
Touls iuconueniens ; 
Par mens et par vaulx, 
Et aulx hospitalx, 
Meurent tant de gens. 



On the back are two English stanzas denouncing Fortune,^ with 
" d Finis, quad. T. M." and a fresh woodcut of Lady Fortune. 

On A iii (not signed) follow " d The wordes of Fortune to the 
People, qxiod Tho. Mo.", in six 7-line stanzas, beginning " Myne 
hyghe estate, power, aud auctoryte," and ending " And he that 
wyll be a begger, let hym be." At the foot of the back in A iii is 
the title of the next poem " ([ To them that trusteth in Fortune" 
in thirty-three 7-line stanzas, beginning " Thou that art proude of 
honour, shape, or kyn," and ending "as are the iudgementes of 
Astrouomye. (I Here Fiueth Lady Fortune." The back of the 

' Printed, like the foregoing Prologue, in Maitland's Early Frinied Books, 
p. 441. 



XXXVII. The Booke of Fortune. xcvii 

last leaf (B iv not signed) is taken up witli two Frencli stanzas of 
8-lines each, asking Fortune where are divers heroes, " Fortune, 
ou est Dauid et Salomon" etc. and with the burden " Ilz sont 
tons mors : ee mo^ide est chose vaine," and followed by the 
Colophon. 

Now if we turn to Sir Thomas More's Worhes, ' printed at Lon- 
don at the eostes and charges of John Cawood, John VValy, & 
Eicharde Tottell, Anno 1557, Q 5,' we find the main part of 
Wyer's tract printed as " Certain meters in English written by 
master Thomas More in hys youth for the boke of Fortune, and 
caused them to be printed in the begynning of that boke." The 
first poem is ' The wordes of Fortune to the people' a boast by 
her of her power, and a call on men to wait on her, ending 

And he that out of pouertie and mischaunce 

List for to liue, and will himself enhaunce 

In wealth & riches, come forth and waits on me ! 

And he that will he a begger, let hyme he. (See 21 lines above.) 

The second poem is ' Thomas More to them that trust in for- 
tune', warning them of her fickleness, and what dangers lie in 
trusting her, 

Fast by her side doth wearie Labour stand, 

Pale Feare also, and Sorrowe all bewept, 

Disdayne and Hatred on that other hand, 

Eke restles watch fro slepe with trauayle kept, 

His eye drowsy and lokinge as he slept ; 

Before her standeth Daunger and Enuy, 

Flatery, Dyceyt, Mischeif and Tyranny. 

contrasting her with Poverty, and advising men to choose her 

before Fortune : 

"Wherefore yf thou in suretie lyst to stande. 
Take pouerties parte, and let prowde fortune go ; 
Eeceyue nothynge that commeth from her hande. 
Loue Manner and Vertue ; they be only tho 
"Which double Fortune may not take the fro ; 
Then mayst thou boldlie defye her tomyng chaunce ; 
She can the neyther hynder nor auaunce. 

The third poem is ' Thomas More to them that seke Fortune,' 

and ends thus 

" Then forasmuch as it is fortunes guyse 
To graunt no manne all thinge that he will axe 
But as her selfe lyst order and deuyse, 
Doth euery manne his part deuide and taxe, 
I counsayle you eche one trusse vp your packs. 
And take nothing at all, or be content 
With such rewarde as fortune hath you sent. 



xcviii XXXVII. The Booke of Fortune. 

He meanetli All thinges in this tooke that ye shall rede, 
the booke of pgg ^g yg ^is^^ there shall no man you bynde 

Them to beleiue as surely as yoirr crede ; 

But notwithstandinge, certes in my m;yTide 

I durst well sweare, as true you shall them fjoide 

In euery poynt, eche answer by and by, 

As are the iudgementes of astronomye. 

Thus endeth the preface to the booke of Fortune." 

I think it clear, then, that Wyer's tract is a made-up one — 
after More's death in 1535 perhaps ^ — and not ' the Booke of 
Fortune' that Captain Cox had. What that was, I can't say ; 
but no doubt an edition of the book licensed to William Powell 
on Febry. 6, 1559-60. 

Eecevyd of "William Powell, for his Lycense for pryntinge of the boke of 
fortune in folio, the vj. day of Februarij . . . . . . viij d. 

Stationers^ Register A, leaf 48 ; Collier's Extracts i. 25. 

The earliest Fortune-telling book under Fortune in tlie British 
Museum Catalogue, is " A merry- conceited Fortune-Teller :" 
P(r)ognosticating to all Trades and Professions their good and 
bad Fortune. Calculated according to Art, for the Meridian of 
England, but may serve for all four parts, East, West, North, 
and South, from the beginning of the world to the end thereof, 
[over a portrait of a man] London, Printed for John Andrews, 
at the White-Lion near Py-corner 1662." Here are a few ex- 
tracts : 

" Polterers shall have very good fortune if they can make G-eese 
of their customers : and they shall have ill fortune when their old 
Coneys will not go off for young Eabits. 

Booksellers shall have very good fortune by other mens wits : 
and they shall have ill fortune when they have no customers for 
their Books, but Sir Ajax [a jakes. See Nares's Glossary.']. 

Citizens wives shall have very good fortune by going to Epsom- 
wels in the Summer-time, for there they may purge themselves of 
all their good qualities : but their Husbands shall have hornluck, 
for in the mean time they may chance to be made Cuckolds, 
and their wives cannot help it. 

Labourers shall have very good fortune if they can have work 
all the year ; and they shall have bad fortune, when they spend 
their wages on Saturday nights, and Sundays, and to have never 
a penny on Munday 

Habberdashers shall have good fortune when each gallant wears 



' R. Wyer printed from 1527 to 1542. 



X^TWl. Booke of Fortune. ^XXYlll. Stans Puer. xcix 

Beavers, and when Countrymen buy coarse felts : they shall have 

ill fortune when their knavery is felt out 

Shoemakers shall have good fortune if they do not drink on 
Mundays, & so play all the week : & they shall have ill fortune 
when the stitch of love takes them, so that they go beyond their 
Last, and run a woing to get a young Lass." 

XXXVIII. Starts Puer ad Mensam. Of this well-known trans- 
lation, or rather, paraphrase — probably by Lydgate — of a Latin 
poem on how a youth should behave at meals, Caxton printed a 
first edition in 4to, in his 2nd type, before 1479 (Blades's How to 
tell a Caxton, 1870, p. 53) ; the Duke of Devonshire has one 
copy ; and the only other known, that in Cambridge University 
Library, is imperfect. Then Wynkyn de Worde printed 3 edi- 
tions, — the earliest one without a date, containing 12 leaves, and 
tlie others in 1518 and 1524 (in six leaves) in the Cambridge 
University Library. Of the first edition by Wynkyn De Worde, 
Mr. Bradshaw says : — " W. de Worde's edition is Staiis puer ad 
mensam -\- ' Little John^,' which fully accounts for the 12 leaves. 
He must have reprinted from a copy where Caxton's two were 
bound together. He reproduces Caxton's mistake of two pages 
transposed in printing, which is enough to show where he got 
his text." Mr. Bradshaw describes the book as 

" Stans puer ad mensam in English by John Lidgate. The Book 
of Courtesy or Little John. London, Wynkyn de Worde, no 
date (1501-1510) 4°. 

Collation : A B in Sixes, 12 leaves. 

Title (in white on a black ground) 'Stans puer ad mesa'; be- 
low this block, three woodcuts of a man, a woman, and, between 
them, a family of children. 

Colophon (on the last page) : ([ Enpvynted at London in Flete 
strete at the sygne of the sonne by me Wynkyn de Worde." 

The book was licensed to Wally in 1557, as we have seen at 
p. Ixxiv above. Doubtless there were several other old editions 
of it. A recast of it is worked into Hewe E-odes's Boke of Nurture, 
of editions of which before 1575 we know those by Johan Eedman 
(about 1530), Thomas Colwell, Abraham Veale, Thomas Petyt, 
and perhaps John Kynge. See my reprint of H. Jackson's edition 
of 1577 in the Bahees Book. 

1 Caxton's Book of Curtesije, edited by me for the Early English Text 
Society's Extra Sex-ies in 1868, from 2 MSS. and Caxton's imique print. 

h2 



c XXXVIII, Stans Puer ad Mensam. 

The short Latin original Stans Puer ad Mensam, I printed in 
the Babees Book, Part II, p. 30-3, with a literal englishing of it 
by Professor Seeley. In Part I of the same volume, pages 26-33 
are two copies of the English paraphrase attributed to Lydgate, 
from the Lambeth MS. 853, about 1430 a.d., and the Harleian 
MS. 2251, probably about 1460 a.d. In my second Babees Book, 
or Queene Mizahethes Acliademy &c. E. E. Text Soc. 1869, p. 56-64, 
is a much expanded version of the Stans Puer from the Ashmole 
MS. 61, after 1460 a.d. Of the shorter English version Mr. 
Halliwell printed a copy in Beliquice Antiques, i. 156-8 from the 
MS. 2. r. 8, at Jesus College, Cambridge ; and Mr. W. C. Hazlitt 
printed the same copy, in his Early Popular Poetry, iii. 23, but 
collated with three MSS. in the British Museum, Harl. 4011, 
Lansdowne 699, and Additional 5467. There are other copies of 
the poem in Ashmole MS. 59, art. 57, &c., and a diflering version 
in Cott. Calig. A ii. leaf 13. 

The poem tells a youth, that when he stands before his sove- 
reign at the table, he's not to speak recklessly, and is to keep his 
hands still ; not to stare about, lean against a post, look at the 
wall, pick his nose, or scratch himself; to look steadily at the 
man who speaks to him, and not cast his head lumpishly down ; 
not to laugh wantonly before his lord, and to walk demurely in 
the streets. Before meals, the youth is to clean his nails, and 
wash his hands. At meals, he's not to press up to too high a 
seat, or be too hasty to eat; he's not to gi'in, make faces, or shout ; 
not to stuff his jaws too full, or drink too fast. He's to keep his 
lips clean, and wipe his spoon ; not to make sops of his bread, 
drink with a dirty mouth, dirty tlie tablecloth, or pick his teeth 
with his knife. He's not to swear or talk ribaldry, or take the 
best morsels, but to share with his fellows, eat up his scraps, and 
keep his nails from getting black. Also, he's not to bring up 
anew old complaints, or play with his knife, shuflle his feet about, 
spill the broth over liis chest, use dirty knives, or fill his spoon too 
full. He's to be quick in doing whatever his lord orders ; to take 
salt with his knife, and not to dip his meat in the salt cellar ; not 
to blow in the general cup, or quarrel with his fellows, or interrupt 
any man telling a story. He's to drink ale and wine only in 
moderation ; not to talk too much ; and is to be gentle and tract- 
able, but not over soft, and not revengeful. Lastly, children who 
don't behave well are to have the rod. But if they attend to this 
' litil balade,' it will lead them into all virtues. 



XXXIX. ?%e Hy Way to the Spitl-house. ci 

XXXIX, The Sy Way to the Spitl-house. Of this very ini- 
poi'tant and interesting sketch of the broken-downs, scamps, and 
rogues, — the resorters to Bartholomew's Hospital — in Henry 
VIII's time, after the Statute 22nd Henry VIII (1530-1) 
against vagabonds (1. 375), and after the Reformation was esta- 
blished (]. 551 of the poem) we have only copies of one edition, 
printed by the author and printer of the poem, Robert Copland. 
He printed it at the shop where, after at least 22 years' work, he 
was succeeded by William Copland (? his younger brother, or son) 
in 1547 or -8, the Eose-garland in Fletestrete''. Mr. Utterson 
reprinted the Ily Way in his Select Pieces of Early Popular Poetry, 
1817, and Mr. W. C. Hazlitt also reprinted it in his Early Popular 
Poetry, 1866, iv. 17. After a Prologue, Copland tells us that 
about a fortnight after Hallowmas or All Saints' Day, Nov. 1, 
(the beggars' jubilee,) he took refuge from a storm under the 
porch of a hospital (Bartholomew's), and while there, talked to 
the porter, and saw a crowd of poor tniserable people, and beggars, 
gather at the gate. (The hospital then gave temporary lodging 
to almost all the needy, as well as a permanent home to the 
deserving poor and sick; and Sisters attended to them.) Copland 
asks the Porter about the different classes of people who come to 
the hospital ; and in their long talk — the poem is 1097 lines — all 
classes of the poor, the ne'er-do-weels, and the rascals, are de- 
scribed and discussed : twenty-three sets of them, I make. 

First, Vagabonds^ are rejected, and they lie huddled together 
like beasts about Smithfield market and places near, chiding and 

^ William Copland's dated Rose-Garland books range from 1548 to 1557; 
he afterwards moved to the Three Cranes in the Vintry, whence two of his 
dated books are Tyndale's Parable of the Wicked Mammon, 1561, and a 
NEVVE BOKE (of prayers etc., at Lambeth) 1561 ; lastly, he moved to 
Lothbury, whence he issued no dated book, so far as I know, but Andrew 
Boorde's First Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge that he printed at 
Lothbury was licensed in 1662-3. The full title of the Neivc Boke is " (J A 
NEVVE BOKE / Conteyninge. / An exortaciow. to the sicke / The sycke 
mans prayer. / A prayer with thankes, / at the purificatio« of womew / A Con- 
solatioM at buriall. / Colossi, iii. / (J WTiat soeuer ye do in / word or dede, do 
al in the / name of the Lord lesu, & / geue thankes vnto God / the father by 
hyro. / M. D. LXl. /" Collation. A B C in eights, D in four, (D ii signed 
D iii), the last leaf blank. Colophon. "(J Imprinted at London in / saynt 
Martines in the / Vintry vpon the thre / craned wharfe by / Wyllyam / Cop- 
land. / (.-.) / " (The / marks the end of a line.) 

- I ought to have referred to Eobert Copland as one of Awdeley's and Har- 
man's forerunners, in my Preface to their Vagabond-treatises, E. E. T. Soc. 
Extra Series, 1869. 



cii XXXIX. 2^he Hy Way to the Spitl-house. 

brawling. 2, the persons admitted are the old, sick, and impo- 
tent, women in childbed, honest folk fallen in mischance, wayfaring 
men, maimed soldiers, and bedridden folk: all others have lodging 
for a night or two : — the modern Refuge, Poor-house, and Hos- 
pital, in one. — 3, the Beggars, who work in pairs, one asking 
bygoers to take pity on the other: then one pulls out lid., says 
' we've had a bad day, but let's go dine.' These don't come to the 
Hospital ; their haunts are in Barbican, Turnmill St. (the whores' 
quarter), Houndsditch, and behind the Fleet; and there they revel 
and get drank, lying like swine on their backs. Some beggar- 
masters have men under them, who sham diseases, put soap in 
their mouths to make 'em foam etc. These only come to the 
Hospital when they're sick indeed. 4, the Masterless Men, who 
say they've served the King abroad, and beg for help till they get 
a fresh service. Ot" these are 2 classes, a open beggars, ragged 
and lowsy, who prowl about and steal ; b Nightingales of New- 
gate, who walk about decently drest — ' In theyr hose trussed 
rounde to theyr dowblettes ' — telling you where they've fought, 
or that they've been unjustly imprisoned, and then set free: all 
over the country they go, and they'll rob you of purse and clothes 
if they get a chance ; and then at night dress up in sword, 
buckler, and short dagger, swear, brag, and ' passe the tyme with 
daunce, hore, pipe, (and) thefe.' These at last come to the gal- 
lows or the Hospital. Ah, says Copland, the Vagabond Act of 
1530-1 isn't enforced ; and the bawdy brybrous knaves who keep 
these Beggars-lodging-houses are not lookt after. 5. Rogers^, 
who go about singing and praying, saying that they're poor 
scholars : 6, Glewners, whom the Rogers obey as captains, and 
who say they've taken the degree of priest in the university, and 
want money to go home and sing their first Mass for their bene- 
factors : 7 Sapients or Quack-doctors, who work in two couples ; 
the first Doctor affects not to know English ; his mate tells a 
woman her child is near dying, but the Doctor can cure it. She 
gives the man money ; the Doctor refuses any, but gives her some 
powder for her child; and the quacks go on. Nest day the 
second couple come to her house, and say that the child is very 
bad, they'll stay a fortnight until they make it well. These rogues 
don't come to tl^e Hospital. 8. Fardoners, whose business the 



* 1 don't find this, or any of the foui' next names, in Awdeley or Harman. 



XXXIX. The Hy Way to the Spill-house. ciii 

Eeforraation has taken away : these do come, though they're as 
big rogues as the others : 

" For by letters they name them as they be ; 
P. a Pardoner : Clewner a C : 
E. a Roger : A. an Aurium : and a Sapyent, S." 

Copland doesn'b describe the Auriums, so far as I see. 9. The 
Porter then describes, in lines 573-743, the unthrifts who come 
to the Hospital : men with no heart towards God, bad sons, ale- 
house priests, wasteful heirs, poor people dressing finely, careless 
folk who don't keep accounts, bad landlords, men always going to 
law, negligent farmers, self-willed people, meddlers, foolish mer- 
chants and workmen, wasteful rufflers, taverners and innkeepers 
for whores and thieves, dishonest bakers and brewers, people who 
marry too young, insolvent merchants, waiters for relations' 
money, men letting their wives ruin them, etc. 10. Men with 
shrews for wives. 11. Negligent masters, changeable servants, 
borrowers, too generous parents, gluttons, untidy careless people. 
12. Adulterers, swearers, and blasphemers. 13. Sluggards. 14. 
Usurers and extortioners, if they get poor ; but 15. Thieves and 
murderers generally go to prison and the gallows. 16. Drunkards 
— Dutch folk and Flemings are the worst. — 17. Quarrellers. 18. 
Proud decayed gentry. 19. Hypocrites. 20. Men with wasteful 
gay wives. 21. Pedlars talking cant, 'the patryng cove' etc. 
(with a specimen of Cant or Pedlyng Frenche). 22. Mariners of 
Cock Lorel's Boat, unthrifts, the 24 Orders of Knaves^, aud the 
Order of Fools. 23, and last, of women, 

The systerhod of drabbes, sluttes and callets, 
Do here resorte, with theyr bags and wallets 

And be parteners of the confi-ary [= fraternity] 1080 
Of the maynteners of yll husbandry. 

' To eschue vyce I the vndertoke,' says E-obert Copland of his 
poem, which is a most valuable help to our knowledge of Henry 
VIII's time, the necessary complement to Halle's Chronicle of 
the splendour and gaiety of that king's court life. 

XL. Julian of Br ainf or d's Testament. Of this second poem by 
the old printer Eobert Copland, two editions only are known, and 
they were both printed by William Copland, in black letter. 
Each contains eight leaves 4to., and the earlier one's title, ac- 

* See Awdeley's 25 Orders of Knaves, after his Fratemitye of Vacabondcs, 
in om- edition (E. E. T. Soc.) p. 12. 



civ XL. Julian of Brainford's Testament. 

cording to a copy made for me by Mr. Gr. Parker, is " Jyl of 
Breyntford's testament. Newly compiled," with the colophon 
"Impreated at London in Lothbury ouer agaynst Saint Mar- 
garytes church by me "Wyllyam Copland." A copy of this edi- 
tion is in the Bodleian, among Seidell's books, 4to, C. 39. Art. 
Seld. As it was printed in Lothbury, its date must be 1562 or a 
few years after. The later edition is called " Jyl of Braintford's 
testament newly compiled^," and has a colophon " Imprinted at 
London by me William Copland." According to Mr. J. Payne 
Collier (£ibl. Cat. i. 152-S), the Loudon edition of Jyl of 
Braintford is earlier than the Lothbury edition of Jyl of Breynt- 
ford, because the Lothbury edition corrects many mistakes of the 
London one. But this fact proves to me that the Lothbury edi- 
tion is the earlier of the two, because it is a commonplace among 
old-book men that first editions are the correct ones, and reprints 
the careless ones. The truth of this has been impressed on me 
by the collations of the 1st and 2nd editions of Wynkyn de 
Worde's £oke of Keruinge and Pope Piccolomini's Lucres and 
JEurialus englished, No. XIV, p. xxxviii above. The date of the 
later ' London ' edition of Jyl of Braintford must be between 1547 
and 1567 ; near the latter year, I suppose.^ 

The object of the excellent old printer in writing the poem 
has been obscured by some readers dwelling only on the coarse- 
ness of the legacy left by the old alewife (a fart^) to the people 
whom she satirizes. The poem is really of the same class as 
The Hye Way to the Spytel Uous, and its main object is to 
show-up the follies and vices of Henry YIII's time. As Cop- 
land says of himself when he read the Testament given him : 



It dyd styre me to fall on smylyng, 
Consyderyng the prety pastyme 
And rydycle ordre of the ryme, 
The couert termes, vnder a mery 

sence, 
Shewyng of many the blynd insolence, 



Tauntyng of thynges past and to come, 
Where as my self e was hyt with some : 
And for that cause I dyd intend 
After tliys maner to haue it pende, 
Prayeng all them that mery be, 
If it touch them, not to blame me. 



And again at the end, Robert Copland says, that his hostess's 

legacies are 

Wylled to them that, without aduysement, 
Do that thynge waer-of they repent. 

^ Hazlitt's Handbook which spells ' Breyntford.' 

2 I expect that all W. Copland's "London " books were printed at Loth- 
bury, and possibly after those printed " at London in Lothbury." 
Compare Chaucer, in the Frere's Tale. 



XL. Julian of Brainford's Testament. cv 

Only one or two of these ' things ' blamed or ridiculed — the 
treatment of a fair wench, and a thirsty bystander — are right mo- 
rally ; the rest are all wrong or foolish ; the people who do them, 
being those who would ultimately have to take refuge in Copland's 
' Spytel-Hous,' St. Bartholomew's. The setting of the story, the 
tale to point the moral, is unnecessarily coarse ; but so was Cop- 
land's time ; we must put up with the rough husk if we get the 
kernel. 

The old alewife leaves twenty-five of her ' raps ' to twenty-five 
sets of fools, and one and a half to the curate who makes her 
will. Let's take the first six as a sample. They are 

(1) ... hym that is angry 

"With his frend, and wotes not why. 

2 . . hym that selleth al his herytage, 
And all his lyfe lyueth in seruage . . . 

3 He that settes by no man, nor none by hym, 
And to promocion fayn wold clym. . . . 

4. He that wyll not lerne, and can do nothjmg, 
And with lewed folk is euer conuersyng . . . 

5. He that boroweth without aduantage. 
And euermore renneth in arrerage . . . 

6. He that geueth, and kepeth nought at all, 
And by kyndnes to pouerte dooth fall. 

Robert Copland says, or pretends, that a mery fellow, John 
Hardlesay, whom he met at Brentford, and with whom he went 
to drink at the Eed Lion, at the shambles' end, first explained to 
him the meaning of Old Jyl's legacy, and gave him a tattered 
copy of her Testament. 

As this tract has not been reprinted lately (I believe), I shall 
send it to press shortly, with another of the same class^. The Wyll 
of the Deuyl, of which a unique copy of the early edition is at 
Lambeth. I have heard that Mr. J. P. Collier has reprinted a 
later edition in one of his Series. Mr. Halliwell noticed Jyl of 
Breyntford in his edition of ' The Eirst Sketch of Shakespeare's 
Merry Wives of Windsor ' for the Shakespeare Society, 1842, 
p. 68 ; and he said that the only copy of the earlier edition passed 
through the hands of E-itson and Heber ; but neither he nor Mr. 
Collier said where it was when they wrote. Buried in the case 
of some bibliotaph^, perhaps. 

^ The verse ' Talk of Ten Wives on their Hvisbands' Ware,' by some suc- 
cessor of the Wife of Bath, and a few other like pieces, will be included in the 
volume. 2 ggg Blades's How to tell a Caxton, 1870, p. 27. 



cvi - XLI. Castle of Love. 

XLI. Castle of Love. The original of this, says Mr. W. F, 
Cosens, is the Carcel de Amor or Prison of Love, by Diego de 
San Pedro, published in 1492. Diego's poetry, says Mr. Tickuor 
{Hist. Spanish Lit. 1863, i. 382) "is found iu all the Cancioneros 
Generales. He was evidently known at the court of the Catholic 
sovereigns [Ferdinand and Isabella], and seems to have been 
favoured there ; but if we may judge from his principal poem, 
entitled ' Contempt of Fortune,' his old age was unhappy, and 
filled with regrets at the follies of his youth. Among these follies, 
however, he reckons the work of prose fiction which now consti- 
tutes his only real claim to be remembered. It is called the 
Prison of Love ' Carcel de Amor,' and was written at the request 
of Diego Hernandez, a governor of the pages in the time of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella. 

" It opens with an allegory. The author supposes himself to 
walk out on a winter's morning, and to find in a wood a fierce, 
savage-looking person who drags along an unhappy prisoner 
bound by a chain. This savage is Desire ; and his victim is 
Leriano, the hero of the fiction. San Pedro, from natural sym- 
pathy, follows them to the Castle or Prison of Love, where, after 
groping through sundry mystical passages and troubles, he sees 
the victim fastened to a fiery seat, and enduring the most cruel 
torments. Leriano tells him that they are in the kingdom of 
Macedonia, that he is enamoured of Laureola, daughter of its 
king, and that for his love he is thus cruelly imprisoned ; all of 
which he illustrates and explains allegorically, and begs the author 
to carry a message to the lady Laureola. The request is kindly 
granted, and a correspondence takes place, immediately upon 
which Leriano is released from his prison, and the allegorical part 
of the work is brought to an end. 

" From this time the story is much like an episode in one of 
the tales of chivalry. A rival discovers the attachment between 
Leriano and Laureola, and, making it appear to the king, her 
father, as a criminal one, the lady is cast into prison. Leriano 
challenges her accuser, and defeats him in the lists ; but tlie accu- 
sation is renewed, and, being fully sustained by false wdtnesses, 
Laureola is condemned to death. Leriano rescues her with an 
armed force, and delivers her to the protection of her uncle, that 
there may exist no further pretext for malicious interference. 
The king, exasperated anew, besieges Leriano in his city of Susa. 



Xhl. Casile of Love. 'KIAl.BoogetofDemaunds. cvii 

jn the course of the siege, Leriano captures one of the false wit- 
nesses, and compels him to confess his guilt. The king, on 
learning this, joyfully receives his daughter again, and shows all 
favor to her faithful lover. But Laureola, for her own honor's 
sake, now refuses to hold further intercourse with him ; in conse- 
quence of which, he takes to his bed, and, w'ith sorrow and fasting, 
dies. Here the original work ends ; but there is a poor continua- 
tion of it by Nicolas Nunez, which gives an account of the grief 
of Laureola, and the return of the author to Spain." 

The style, so far as Diego de San Pedro is concerned, is good 
for the age ; very pithy, and full of rich aphorisms and antitheses. 
But there is no skill in the construction of the fable, and the 
whole work only shows how little romantic fiction was advanced 
in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Garcel de Amor was, 
however, very successful. The first edition appeared in 1492 ; 
two others followed in less than eight years ; and, before a century 
was completed, it is easy to reckon ten, besides many translations^ 

Mr. F. W. Cosens says : " In Grayangos and Vedia's Spanish 
edition of Ticknor is the following note. Tomo 3°, p. 546 : — The 
' chivalresque-sentimental ' novel to which genus belongs the 
Garcel de Amour of San Pedro was imported from Italy, but never 
enjoyed much favour in Spain, rapidly passing away to give place 
to ' books of chivalry,' which in time became absolute masters of 
the field." 

XLII. The Booget of Demaunds. This is perhaps *' The De- 
maundes Joyous," a short set of comical Questions and Answers, 
the first printed edition of which (according to the reprint, which 
Mr. Collier says had about 50 mistakes) has this Colophon, " Thus 
endeth y*^ Demaundes Joyous / Emprented at London in Flete- 
stre/te at the sygne of the Sonne^ by / me Wynkyn de worde / In 
the yere of our / lorde a M / CCCCC / and xi." It was reprinted 
in 1829 from the unique copy belonging to the late Richard 
Heber, by Thomas White, and the British Museum copy is 
inserted between the ' Contents ' and text of Hartshorne's Ancient 
Metrical Tales, 1829. Mr. Collier has described the book in his 
Bill. Catal. i. 217-18. 



1 See Brunet, under San Pedro, iv. 193. The earliest French translation is 
La prison damours, Paris, G-aliot du Pre, 1526, reprinted in Paris 1527. 
Others are Lyon 1528, Paris 1533, 1552, etc. 

* ' swane ' says the reprint, hut it's ' Sonne ' says Mr. Collier, Bibl, Cat. i. 218. 



cviii HIAl. BoogeiofDemaunds. XIAll. Hundred Mery Tales. 

Here is a sample of the Demaundes from the careless reprint : 
" ^ Demaunde. where became y® asse that our lady rode upon. 
^ Adams raoder dede ete her. ^ Demaunde. -who was Adams 
moder. ^ The erthe. • • . ^ Demaunde. How many calues tayles 
behoueth to reche frorae the erthe to the skye. ^ No more but 
one if it be louge ynough. . . . ^ Demaunde. "What thynge is it 
that neuer was nor neuer shall be. ^ Neuer mouse made her 
nest in a cattes ere. • . . ^ Demaunde. why doth an oxe or a cowe 
lye. Bycause she can not sytte. . . . ^ Demaunde. How maoy 
strawes go to a gose nest. ^ None, for lacke of fete. ^ De- 
maunde. what tyme in the yere bereth a gose moost feders. 
^ When the gander is upon her backe." 

Mr. J. M. Kemble reprinted the Demaundes in his Yercelli 
Poems for the ^Elfric Society, 

Mr. Halliwell says, however, that Captain Cox's book is pro- 
bably " Delectable uemandes and pleasaunt questions, with their 
seueral aunswers in matters of lone, naturall causes, with morall 
and politique deuises. Newly translated out of Prenche into 
Englishe, this present year of our Lord Grod," 1566, printed by 
John Cawood in 4to. Dibdin's Ames, iv. 401, No. 2551. I can 
find no reference to the dwelling-place of any copy of this book. 
But as we are among Captain Cox's books of ' philosophy . . . 
beside poetrie and astronomic, and oother hid sciences,' it is more 
than possible that the Booget of Demaunds was " The Boke of 
Demaundes of the scyence of Phylosophye and Astronomye. 
Betwene Kynge Boccus and the Phylosopher Sydracke. Printed 
by E. Wyeri, no date, 8vo, black letter, A to D in fours," a later 
edition of which Mr. Collier says is to be understood by the fol- 
lowing entry in the Stationers' Eegister A, leaf 86, 

nycholas Eecevyd of nycholas "Wyer, for his lycense for pryntinge of a boke 
Wyer intituled the demaundes iiijd 

No copy of this edition is specified. 

XLIII. The Hundred Mery Tales. This is one of the best of 
our old Jest-Books, and is alluded to by Shakspere in his Much 
Ado about Nothing. We know of only 2 old editions of it, both 
by Eastell, and of each only one copy is known. The earlier of 
the two editions is no doubt that of 1526, "A .C. mery talys," 

1 Eobert Wyer's date is 1534-42, and Eichard Wyer's 1548-50. both mora 
or less, according to Ames and Dibdin. 



XLIII. The Hundred Mery Tales. cix 

wliose colophon is "*[[ Thus endeth the booke of a .C. mery talys. 
Emprynted at London at the sygne of the Merymayd At Powlys 
gate next to chepe syde. ^ The yere of our Lorde .M. v. C. xxvi. 
^ The xxii. day of JN'oue^nber, Johannes Eastell. ^ Cum preui- 
legio Eegali." This was re-edited in 186G by the discoverer of it, 
Dr. Herman Oesterley, from the only perfect copy known, which 
is in the Eoyal Library of the University of Grottingen. The 
copy of the later edition by E-astell is imperfect ; it was discovered 
by the Rev. J. J. Conybeare in 1815, reprinted in the same year 
as Part II. of Mr. J. W. Singer's ShaJcespeare Jest-Boohs (3 Parts 
1814-16), and again reprinted by Mr. W. C. Hazlitt in his 
Shakespeare Jest-Boohs, 1864. Besides many small differences, 
this later undated edition leaves out 4 tales and three ' morals ' 
that the 1526 edition has, but puts 3 new tales instead of them. 
Of the edition by Walley in 1558^, no copy is known. The 
character of the book may be gathered from two short tales at the 
page on which my copy of Dr. Oesterley's edition chances to open, 
and that next to it, p. 77, 78, — tales of which no originals were 
known to the Editor of them^: — 

XLV. Of tlie ploiomannys sonne that sayd he .saw one mahe 
a Gose to hrehe sweetly. 

There was a certayn ploughmannys sonne of the contrey, of 
the age ofe .xvi. yeres, that neuer come moche among company, 
but alway we«t to plough and husbandry / On a tyme this yong 
lad we?2t to a weddynge with hys fader, when he see one lute 
vppon a lute^. And when he came home agayne at nyght, his 
moder askyd hym what sport he hade at weddynge. This lad 
answeryd and sayd, " by my trouth, moder," quod he, " ther was 
one that brought in a gose betweene his armys, and tykled her si. 
vppo?i the nek, that she crekyd the swetlyest that euer I hard 
gose creke in my lyfe. 

XL VI. Of the maydys answers that was with cJiylde. 
In a marchauntys house in London there was a mayd whiche 

^ See the entry above, p. Ixxiv. 

^ The 56th Tale alludes to the Coventry Plays. A parish priest of a village 
in Warwickshire preaches to his parishioners on the Twelve Articles of the 
Belief, and -winds up thus : "these artycles ye be bounde to beleue, for they 
be trew, & of auctoryte. And yf you beleue not me / the??, for a more suerte, 
& sufiycye;(t auctoryte / go your way to Couentre / and there ye shall se them 
all playd in Corpus Cristi playe" (p. 100). Dr. Oesterley notes that these 
XII Articles of the Creed are in the Chester Play of " The Emission of the 
Holy Grhost," Chester Flays, vol. ii. p. 134, Shaksp. Soc., 1847. 

^ See p. 66 below, as to the shape of the lute. 



ex XLIII. Hundred Mery Tales. XLIV. Book of Riddels. 

was gotten with chylde; to whome the mastres of the house 
came, & chargyd her to tell who was the fader of the chylde. 
To whome the mayden answeryd, "forsoth, no body" / "why!" 
quod the maystres " yt ys not possyble but some mwane muste be 
the fader thereof." To whome the mayd sayd / " why, mastres ? 
why may not I haue a chylde without a man, as well as a hen to 
lay eggys wythout a cok." 

^ Here ye may see it is harde to fyude a woman wythout an 
excuse. 

As another old writer says, " excuses are neuer further off women 
than their apron strings." {Tarltori's Neioes out of JPurgatorie, 
4to, London, 1590, The Tale of the two lovers of Pisa.) 

XLIV. The Booh of Biddels. This set of questions and answers 
like the Demaundes Joyous, p. cvii, above, I have not been able 
to see, and therefore take Mr. J. P. Collier's description of it from 
his Bibliographical Catalogue, ii. 261. Mr. Hallivvell says that 
the 1629 edition of the Booh is in the Library of the Earl of 
Ellesmere. 

" The Booke of mery Eiddles. Together with proper Questions, and wittie 
Proverbs to make pleasant Pastime. No lesse usefull then behooveful for 
any yong man or child to know if he be quicke-witted or no. — London. Printed 
by Edward AUde, dwelling in Little Saint Bartholomewes, neere Ckrist-chiu-ch. 
1600. 8vo. B. L. 24 leaves. 

" We can very well believe that this was not only " the book of 
riddles " which Master Slender had lent to Alice Shortcake, but 
that it was the edition which Shakespeare had in his mind when 
he wrote "The Merry Wives of Windsor" about the date when 
the reprint before us (for such it no doubt was) was brought out. 
We take it also, that it was a recent edition of the same " book of 
riddels" which Laneham in his Letter from Keailworth mentions 
in 1575 as in the library of Captain Cox. (See vol. i. p. 451.) 

" Plow many times it may have been reprinted between 1575 and 
1600 it is impossible to state ; but we never find it entered in the 
Stationers' Eegisters, and the oldest impression hitherto known, 
until the discovery of the present copy, was of the year 1629, 
when it was ' printed by T. C. for Michael Sparke, dwelling in 
Greene Arbor at the signe of the blue Bible.' We may be sure 
that such a collection was in great popular demand, but between 
1681^ and 1660 we are aware of no reproduction of it: in 1660 it 

' " The exact wording of the title-page of the edit. 1631 is : "A Booke of 
M.errie Riddles. Very meete and deUgitfuU for youth to try their wita. — ■ 



XLIV. The Book of Riddels. cxi 

was ' printed for John Stafford and W. G. and are to be sold at 
the George near Pleetbridg.' All copies are in black letter, and 
the intermediate edition of 1631 was printed by Eobert Bird in 
Cheapside. 

" The wording of the title-page is nearly the same in all the 
copies we have been able to examine, but it is to be observed that 
the impression of 1660, although it announces ' proper questions 
and witty proverbs,' contains nothing of the kind : nevertheless, 
it is obviously complete, with the word Finis, and the initials of 
the publishers, in a chaplet, at the end. The ' proper questions 
and witty proverbs ' was therefore a false pretence, and the book 
consists of only 12 leaves. All editions have the following linea 
opposite the title-page, but they are sometimes differently 
divided : — 



* Is the wit quicke ? 
Then do not sticke 
To reade these Eiddes darke : 



Which if thou doo, 
And rightly too, 
Thou art a witty sparke.' 



Later copies than the one we have used read ' Is thy wit quicke,' 
and it is perhaps right. The antiquity of some of the riddles is 
thus established, carrying us back fourteen years anterior to the 
date of Laneham's Letter from Kenil worth : — 

' What is that, round as a hall, 
Longer than Pauls steeple, weather cock & all ?' 

The answer, called ' solution,' is ' It is a round bottome of thread 
when it is unwound.' Now, we know that the steeple of St. 
Paul's, with its weathercock, was consumed by fire, occasioned by 
lightning, in June, 1561. (Stow's Annales, p. 1055, edit. 1605, 

London. Printed for Rohert Bird and are to bee solde at his shoppe in 
Cheapeside at the sign of the Bible. 1631." 12mo B. L. 11 leaves. 

" We quote the following from the Edit. 1630, the more curious because it 
contains the words of a very old Catch, then usually sung by ' Ale Knights,' 
and which has come down to oui' day. 

Q. I am foule to be looked unto, j Nutmegs, Ginger, Oinamon and Cloves, 



Yet many seeke me for to win, 
Not for my beauty, nor my skin, 
But for my wealth and force to Imow. 
Harde is my meate whereby I live. 
Yet I bring men to dainty fare : 
If I were not, then Ale-Knio-hts should 



Tlieg gave us this jolly red nose. 
The foure parts of the world I show. 
The time and howers as the doe goe ; 
As needfuU am I to mankind 
As any thing that they can find. 
Many doe take me for their guide, 



To sing this song not be so bold, i Who otherwise would runne aside. 

' Sol(ution). It (is) a Loadestone, for without it no Pilot were able to guide 
a ship in the Ocean Seas.' " 



cxii . XLIV. The Book of Riddels. 

edit. 1631, p. 647, and this vol. p. 134.) The riddle was therefore 
older than 1561. 

" Some of the best E-iddles are in ' The Demaundes Joyous^' 
printed by Wynken de Worde in 1511, (reviewed in vol. i. p. 217) 
the first of which is — ' Who bare the best burden that ever was 
borne ?' and the answer, ' That bare the asse when our lady fled 
with our lorde into egypte.' It stands thus in our ' Booke of 
Merry Eiddles,' 1660 — 'Who bare the best burthen that was 
ever bore at any time since, or at any time before ?' with the fol- 
lowing ' solution :' ' It was the Asse that bare both our Lady and 
her son into Egypt.' Again, in the 'Demaundes Joyous' we 
have, just afterwards — ' What space is from y^ hyest space of the 
se to the depest ?' — ' But a stones cast.' In our more modern 
form it is given as follows — ' What space is from the highest of 
the sea to the bottom ? — Solut. A stones cast, for a stone throwne 
in, be it never so deepe, will go to the bottome.' A third instance 
from the ' Demaundes Joyous ' is this — ' How many calves 
tayles behoueth to reche from the erthe to the skye ?• — No more 
but one, if it be longe enough.' The Eiddle-book of 1600 has in 
it nearly the same terms — ' How manie Calves tailes will reach to 
the sky ? — Solut. One, if it bee long enough.' The two last are 
precisely the same in the impressions of 1629, 1631 and 1660. 

" The following was no doubt, invented and printed before the 
Eeformation, but it is not in the ' Demaundes Joyous ' for ob- 
vious reasons : ' Of what faculty be they that everie night turn 
the skins of dead beastes ? Solution. Those be Fryars, for everie 
nigbt at Mattins [Vespers] ? they turn the leaves of their parch- 
ment bookes that be made of sheep skins, or calfes skins.' The 
following is of a different character to the riddles we have already 
noticed, but it is not at first very intelligible : — 

' L and V and C and I, 
So hight my Lady at the Font stone.' 

The ' solution,' so to call it, is thus given : ' Her name is Lucy, for 
in the first line is LVCI, which is Lucy : but the Riddle must be 
put and read thus : fifty and five, a hundred and one : then is the 
riddle very proper, for L standeth for fifty, & V for five, C for an 
hundred and I for one.' 

* See No. XLII, p. cvii, above. 



XLIV. The Book of Riddels, exiii 

" Some are in rhyme, as the following, which is in substance and 
in prose, also in the ' Demaundes Joyous :' — 

' A water there is wMcli I must passe ; I And yet of all waters tliat ever I see 
a broader water there never was, | To pass it over is lest jeopardie.' 

The solution in 1600 is "It is the due [dew] for that lyeth over 
all the world :" ' Demaundes Joyous ' adds " "Which is the broad- 
est water and the leest jeopardye to passe over." 

" The most curious and interesting part of this little volume con- 
sists of a list of ' witty Proverbs,' which as we have stated, are 
altogether omitted in the reprint of 1660. They are entirely 
miscellaneous, and we select only a few of the most pointed and 
satirical. 

' There is no vertue that povertie destroyeth not. 
All weapons of warre cannot arme feare. 
Chuse not a woman, nor linnen cloth, by a candle. 
He helps little that helpeth not himselfe. 
He knoweth enough that knoweth nothing, if so bee hee know 
how to holde his peace. 

He danceth well enough to whom Fortune pipeth. 

He that liveth in Court dyeth upon straw. 

Tbat is well done is done soon enough. 

Marvell is the daughter of ignorance. 

The deeds are manly, and the words womanly. 

He that soweth vertue shall reape fame. 

The hearts mirth doth make the face fayre. 

He that is in poverty is still in suspition. 

He that goeth to bed with dogs riseth with fleas. 

Fryars observants spare their owne, and eate other mens. 

All draw water to their owne mill.' 

" In the whole there are 131 of the Proverbs. 
" The following shows that some of the proverbs are of foreign 
origin : — 

' Venice, hee that doth not see thee doth not esteeme thee.' 

This is, of course, Shakespeare's ' Venezia, Venezia, chi non te vede 
non te pregia^' (L. L. L., A. iv. so. 2) which, perhaps, he had from 
Florio's ' Second Fruits ' 1591, but without the sequel ; which. 



1 In the Folio, vemehie, veneha, que non te vnde, que non te perreehe, Booth's 
reprint, p. 132, col. 1. 



cxiv XIAY. Book of Riddels. XhY . Seauen Sororz of Wemen. 

among other places, we meet with in Howel's Letters, p. 53, edit. 

1655, 

' Venetia Venetia, chi non te vede non te pregia, 
Ma che t' ha troppo veduto te dispregia ;' 

Which has been thus translated : — 

' He who ne'er saw thee, Venice, cannot prize thee. 
He who too much has seen thee must despise thee.' 

Thus we see that our great dramatist may be illustrated from the 
most unlikely sources, for there was nothing too vast for his intel- 
lect, nor too insignificant for his observation. The small book of 
Riddles in our hands throws light upon two of his noble dramas." 

XLV. The Seauen Sororz of Wemen. 'I am not acquainted 
with any tract bearing this title,' says Mr. Halliwell, and so say I. 
Any one who has not read the curious set of poems on Women in 
Mr. Hazlitt's 4th volume of Eai-ly Popular Poetry, 1866, should 
read them forthwith : they are The Payne and Sorowe of Evyll 
Maryage, The Boke of Mayd Emlyn, The Schole-house of 
Women, The Proude Wyues Pater-noster (see next article here), 
A merry Jeste of a Shrewde and curste Wyfe lapped in Morelles 
skin (see No. XXVI. p. Ixiv above), A Treatyse shewing and de- 
claring the Pryde and Abuse of Women NowaDayes, and A G-lasse 
to Viewe the Pride of Vaine-G-lorious Women. 

XLVI. The Proud Wives Paternoster. Customs founded on 
the weaknesses of human nature abide ; and as women in early days 
didn't like going to church when it rained [Babees Booh, p. 36, 1. 12), 
so they don't now ; as, when there in old time, they lookt at one 
another's dresses, envied their neighbours' finery and resolved to 
outdo it, so they do now, more or less ; and as men of old quizzed 
them for it, and protested against waste of money on overgay 
frocks &c., so do some now. When will women dress as comfort 
and good sense (and men ?) dictate, and not to outbrave other 
women, or imitate nasty Erench models ? But one mustn't 
grumble at small faults in great goods, and I hope we're on the 
mend : short frocks are in, chignons out ; may sausages and pads 
soon disappear, and female heads retake their natural shape ! 

The Proud Wife goes to church, like other wives, thinking 
how ' to go gaye' and ' as gorgyous as other.' She says the clauses 
of the Pater Noster, and adds thought-tags not in the original 
Lord's Prayer, whereof here is a specimen : 



XLVL The Proud Wives Paternoster. cxv 

H Adueniat re/jfrnun tuura. — thy kingdom come to vs 

After this lyfe, when we hens shall wende ! (1. 50) 

But whyle we be here now, swete Jesus, 

As other women haue, suche grace in me sende, 
That I may haue, Lorde, my heede in to wrap, 

After the guyse, kerchefes that be fyne,* 
And thei'on to sette some lusty trymme cap. 

With smockes wel wrought, soude w«th sylkew twyne. 

11 Fiat voluntas tua — thy well [will] fulfilled be 

Lorde god, alway ! as thys tyme doth requj're : 
And as my gossep that sytteth here by me. 
So let me be trymmed : nought elles I desyre. ... (1. 60) 

IT Sicut in celo et in terra — in heauen as in erthe ; (1. 65) 

Yt is alway sene, go we neuer so farre, 
That women aboue all, the beaute bereth ; 

And without gaye gere our beaute we marre ; 
Therfore, good lorde, let this be a-mende. 

And gaye gere to were, that I may haue, (1. 70) 

Or elles my lyfe wyll haue an ende : 

For very pure thought [anxiety], nought can me saue. 

The Proud Wife nearly swoons ; but her gossip wrings her 
finger and revives her, and then sympathises with her in her 
trouble — the stinginess of her husband wlio won't give her money 
to buy fine clothes. The Gossip tells her how to manage the man: 
take a third of his gains, and spend it on * rybandes of sylke . . 
with tryangles trymly made poynte deuyse,' ' fyne hoose,' and ' tryrn 
shos ;'^ then ask him for whatever she wants, but not when he's 
angry ; crave it with loving countenance and fair words, asking 
only for small trifles at first, and then she'll get whatever large 
gifts she wants. But if he won't attend to her, and plays the 
churl, then the Wife must do so too, seize half of his goods — half 
is hers, and half his. 

The Proud Wife says she shall get nothing but fists and staves 
if she does ask her husband for money, and so she shall take what 
she can, and get another mate. After service, though, she does 
ask her goodraan, and he quietly reasons with her; tells her he's 

' Compare Chaucer's Wife of Bath, Prol. Cant. Tales, 1. 453-5. (Group A, 

k 1) : 

Hir couercMefs / ful fyne weren of grounds 
I dorste swere / they weyeden ten pound« 
That on a Sondaij / weren vpon hir heede 

^ Compare again Chaucer's Wife, 

Hir hosen weren oifiyn scarlet reedo 

fful streite j^teyd / and shoes ful moyste and newe. 

ib. 1. 456-7, Ellesmere MS. 

i2 



cxvi XLVI. The Proud Wives Paternoster. 

in debt, has only £20 to pay a hundred with, wears simple clothes 
himself, and cannot give her anything unless he steals it. His 
"Wife only abuses and threatens him ; and he, poor man, goes to 
consult his curate about it. After Mass, the priest can only say, 
' do well and trust in God ;' and the poor man goes home, to 
find that his wife has carried off all his ' short endes & mony 
that he had in store,' so that he's undone for ever. 

" Suche JPater Noster some wyues do saye." But instead of 
it they'd better say ' the gow[ld]en Paternoster of deuociou,' of 
which we'll quote one stanza, 1. 521-8 : 

Chryt Jesu our kynge, and his mother dere, 

Be in our nede our socour and comforte, 
Our soules from synne to preserue clere, 

That the flame of charyte in vs reporte ; 
To -whom that we may resorte 

With blisfiil armony both all and summe ; 
Swete Jesus ! for vs exhorte, 

That vnto us — Adueniat regniim tuum. 

This abstract is made from Mr. W. C. Hazlitt's reprint of the 
two poems in Early Popular Poetry iv. 147-178, from the undated 
edition in the Bodleian, by Kynge, 576 lines. John Awdeley's 
edition, licensed on Aug. 14, 1560 (see the next article) has not 
come down to us, but we have two editions by John Kynge, one 
dated 1560, and the other undated : — 

The Proude Wyves Pater noster that wolde go gaye, and undyd her Hus- 
bonde and went her waye. Anno Domini MDLX. [With a woodcut on the 
title of a man with purses at his girdle. Colophon] Imprinted at London in 
Paulas Churche yearde at the Sygne of the Swane by John Kynge. 4to, black 
letter. 

The License for this on June 10, 1560, has been already quoted 
from the Stationers' Eegister A, at p. xxiii above. The only copy 
now known is, I suppose, in Lord EUesmere's Library (^Collier's 
Bill. Account, ii. 201). The title of the unique Bodleian copy is 

The Proude wyues Pater noster, that wolde go gaye, and vndyd her hus- 
bonde and went her waye. [With a woodcut on the title of two women con- 
versing, the righthand one the same as that on p. 167 of my reprint of Boorde's 
Introduction of Knowledge. Colophon.] 11 Imprinted at London in Paulas 
Churcheyearde at the Sygne of the Swane by John Kynge. 4to. black 
letter, {fiazlitt.) 

XL VII. The Chapman of a PenewortTi of Wit. This is the poem 
printed by Ritson in his Ancient Popular Poetry, 1791, from the 
Cambr. Univ. Libr. MS. Ff ii. 38, and by Mr. W. C. Hazlitt, in 
his Early Popular Poetry, vol. i. p. 193 — from the Harl. MS. 



XLVII. The Chapman of a Peneworih of Wit. cxvii 

5396, the Auchinleck MS. (as printed by Mr, D. Laing) and the 
Cambridge MS. — under its other title of " How a Merchande 
dyd hys wyfe betray." An edition that has not reacht lis was 
licensed on Aug. M, 1560. 

" E^ of John Sampson,! for his Lycense for the prynting of the 
proude wyues pater noster : a panyworth ofwytt, and the plowmans 
pater noster, the xiiij of auguste xij"! " 

Other editions were licensed to John Charlwood on 15 January 
1581-2 {Collier's Stat. Beg. ii. 155) and to Edward White on 16 
August, 1586 (ih. p. 213), but they have not reacht us, nor has 
any other early printed copy. The earliest MS. of the poem is 
the Auchinleck, 1320-30 a.d., edited by Mr. David Laing for 
the Abbotsford Club in 1857, as " A Penni-worth of Witte, Elorice 
and Blanchefiour, and other Pieces of Antient English Poetry." 
It contains a few lines more than the MSS of 100 or 120 years 
later printed by Ritson and Mr. Hazlitt ; but the Harleian MS. 
only contains half the poem. Mr. Laing says that the origin of 
the poem is the fabliau of " La Bourse pleine de sens" printed in 
the third volume of Barbazan's collection of Fabliaux et Conies, 
ed. 1808. 

A merchant has a true wife, but neglects her for a paramour or 
concubine, to whom he gives rich gifts. When he is going to sea, 
he asks his wife whether she has any money to give him to buy 
her a present. She gives him a penny to buy her a Pennyworth 
of Wit, and keep it in his heart. The merchant sails to France, 
and buys his leman brooches, jewelry, and many fair things. Then, 
in the hearing of an old man, he wonders where he can get a 
pennyworth of wit for his wife. The old man answers ' Have you 
a leman or a wife ?' ' Both,' says the merchant, ' and I love my 
paramour best.' ' Then,' says the old man, ' when you get home, 
put on old clothes ; say that you've been shipwrecked, have lost 
everything, and have slain a man ; ask for a night's refuge ; and 
live with the woman who treats you best.' Eor this Pennyworth, 
the merchant pays his wife's penny, and acts on the advice. Hia 
paramour sees him coming in old clothes, declares she won't admit 
him : and on hearing his story, threatens to fetch the bailiffs il 

' He is Awdeley, who wrote the Fraternity e of Vacahondes, and was called 
Sampson Awdley, or John Sampson. There's an entry in the Stat. Keg. with 
his aliases. (See the Fraternitye, with Harman's Caueat, E. E. T. Soc. 1869.) 



cxviii XLVII. The Chapman of a Peneivorth of Wit. 

he doesn't go off. He does go, to his wife ; and she receives him 
gladly, like the Nutbrown Maid, says she'll shelter him, work for 
him, beg his pardon of the king ; " I will never forsake thee in 
thy woe !" He sleeps with her ; and next morning dresses himself 
richly, and goes to his paramour. She now is eager to kiss him 
and abuse his wife. But he won't have it. She puts down all 
the presents he has given her, £400 worth ; and he sends them 
home to his wife as her own, bought with her penny ; and lives 
with her happily ever after. 

III. Captain Cox's Ancient Plays. 

We have now reacht another division of Captain Cox's books, 
his four " auncient Playz." Of these, the first, 

XL VIII. Yooth and Gharitee, is no doubt that of which an- 
other edition was licensed to John "Wally or Waley in 1557, and 
the entry of which, already quoted at p. Ixxiv, is among the earliest 
in the Stationers' Register A, and is on leaf 22 : 

To mr. John Wally these bokes, Called Welthe and helthe / the treatise of the 
ffrere and the boye' / stans puer ad mensam^ ; a nother, youghtc, charyte, and 
Immylyte ; an a b c for cheldren, in engiesshe, w«tA syllabes ; also a boke 
called an hundreth mery tayles^ ijs 

A copy of this edition— or perhaps a later and more carelessly 
printed one from the same press* — is in the British Museum (C. 34. 
b. 24) " Thereterlude of youth" over cuts of Charitie and Youth, 
with the colophon, " Imprinted at London by John waley / dwell- 
yng in Foster lane." Another edition is also in the Museum 
(C. 34. e. 38) "The Enterlude of youth," over cuts of Charite, 
Youth (the cut used in Boorde's Introduction of Knowledge, for 
a Bohemian, p. 166 of my reprint 1870) and a third figure for 
Humility (the cut in Boorde's Introduction, for a Dane, p. 162 of 
my reprint) ; and as the colophon is " Imprinted at London in 
Lothbury over a . / gainst Saiuct Margarytes church by me / 
Wyllyam Copland . / ," the date of the book must be 1562 or 
after, as Copland was at the Three Craned wharf in the Vintry 
in 1561, and at the Rose Garland, Fleet St. before that*. The 
Eev. S. R. Maitland in his Early Frinted BooJcs at Lamheth 

' See No. XXXT, p. Ixxiii, above. ^ g^e XXXVIII. p. xcix, above. 

3 See No. XLIII. p. cviii, above. 

* See p. cix. I don't suppose that Coplande printed from Waley's edition. 

* See p. xlviii, above. 



XliVlll. Yooth and Chariiee. XIAX. Hikskoymer. cxix 



1843, p. 309 &c. reprints a fragment of four leaves of another 
edition^. 

Charity tries to persuade Touth to follow Grod's laws, but 
Youth scorns him, and threatens to stab him ; so he goes away 
to fetch Humility to convince Touth. Then comes Eiot from 
Newgate, and promises Touth some wine and a wench at the 
tavern, and gets him Pride as his servant. Pride suggests that 
Touth shall take a wife ; but Eiot poohpoohs this, and says he 
must have Pride's sister. Lady Lechery, as his lemman. She comes, 
to Touth's delight, and they are all going off to the tavern, where 
Pride is to be Eector Chori (see my pref. to Awdeley etc., p. xv), 
when Charity interrupts them ; but they chain him hand and foot, 
and go on. Humility then comes up, pnd looses Charity, and the 
tavern party come back to them. A dispute for Touth follows : 
At first he promises to follow liiot ; but, on hearing from Charity 
how Jesus bought back men from hell with his blood, desires to 
save his soul, and betakes himself to Grod. 

As a sample of the play, and the 2 editions (of which Copland's 
is the more correct), take Eiot's speech as to what he can teach 
Touth, sign C. iiii. 



lohn Waley, 1557. 

Syr [I] can teache you to play at the 

dice, 
At the qucnes game, and at the 

Iryshe, 
The Treygobet and the hasarde also, 
And many other games mo. 
Also at the cardes I can theche you 

to play, 
At the triump, and one and thyrtye. 
Post, pinion, and also aumsase. 
And at an'' other they call dewsace. 
Yet I can tel you more, & ye wyll 

con me thanke, 
Pinke, and drinke, and also at the 

blanke. 
And many sportes mo. 



Wyllyam Copland, after 1561^. 

Syr, I can teache you to play at the 

dice, 
At the quenes game, and at the 

Iryshe-*, 
The Treygobet, and the hasarde also. 
And many other games mo. 
Also at the cardes I can teche you to 

play, 

At the triumph, and on and thirtye. 
Post, pinion, and also aumsase, 
And at an other they call dewsace. 
Yet I can tel you mor, & ye will 

con me thanke, 
Piake, and drinke, and also at the 

blanke. 
And mane sportes mo. 



XLTX. Hikshorner. Title " Hycke scorner " in a riband over a 
treble woodcut, with 3 single cuts below (the middle one an ele- 
phant with a castle on its back), and on the back, six single cuts 

' Maitland had not seen Waley' s edition in the Museum. I have compared 
his extracts with Waley's and Copland's books. 
2 He printed books in 1567 ; p. xxxviii-xxxix, above. ' ad, orig. 

* A kind of backgammon. HazUtt's Brand, ii. 315. 



cxx XLIX. Hikskorner. 

ol' 1. Cowtompla[tion], 2 Pyte, 3 Prewyll, 4. Imagyna[oion], 
5 IIy(!kK('»)nicM', (>. PcrH(Mi(>[raiu'o] ; olwliicli no. 4 was afterwards 
1180(1 by Win. (\'»|)laiulo ibr a Saxon, a Spaniard, an l'j<^yptian, etc. 
in JJoordc's IiUrodiicfion of Knowlcdi/e (p. 105 otu. of my reprint) ; 
no. 2 for a lioinbard, and a Latin man, by W. Copland, ih. ]>. 180; 
and for Boordo', by J{. Wyer, lb. p. 305 ; and no. 5 by W. Coplando 
for a BoluMiiiaii, ■//;. p. 100. 

The coloplion is " Bii()ryntod by nio Wynkyn de Worde," over 
his device, tlie Sim and 2 phmets ringed with stars, Caxton's 
monogram 'WO' below, and ' wynkyn de worde,' witli his orna- 
ments underneath. 

First a[)[)eai*, one after tlie other, Pyte, Oontemplacyon, and 
Peraeueranee, eacii describing himself, and Pity complaining of 
the poverty then existing, how unkind rich men are, and how 
lords force v\i(U)\vs to mari-y tlieir men. Then comes Frewyll, 
boasting of iiis drinking and wenching, and calls Iniagynacyon, 
who has been in the stocks, and lost his purse on a girl ; who 
describes himself as the friend of lawyers and all who like lies ; and 
who tells some of his tricks. To them comes llyekscornor, I'rom 
'the londe of runibelowe, thro luyle out of Iiell,' and divers other 
])la('(>s, but last from tlu! sea, wh(>roin all tho good i)0()|)lo going to 
] relaml were drowned, while all tho bad ones in his ship, where he 
kept a shoj) of bawdry, got to England safe. Tmagynaeyon [jroposea 
n visit to the stews ; a quarrel follows ; and when Pyte comes up to 
stop it, they all turn on liim, chain liis feet, and bind his hands 
witii a halter. Pyte then moans over the state of England, and 
his I'ymes may bo quoted as a sample of the play .- 

Wo all may say wolo away 
l^'or syimo tluti is now-adayo 
]iUO ! vdi'tiiy is vaiiySHlioil lor ounv ami ayo ; 
WovHO was hyt iioiuu- ! 

"Wo ha\io plonto of groat olhos, 
And clotlio ynonpjlio in our clothes, 
liiit. I'liaryto many mou loUu»s: 

AVorso was liyt lumor ! 
Alas! now is lin-hory nailed lono in dodo, (1?. iii.) 

And nmrdnni niiimid manhodo in ouovy nodii ; 
l^xlovwyon ia oallod laAVo, bo god mo wpodo ! 

Woi'so was hyt uouor ! 



Soo p. 170, 188 o{ Introduction, and Roxburghe JBuUads, reprint, i. 164. 
Those 2 linos luo one in tho original. 



XLiX. Hikskorncr. cxxi 

Yoiilli wiillcotli l)y 7iyt;'lit willi HWdrdtvs & knyiios, 
And (Mior iimoiigo, ivuo nioiv hisdl.li iluiyr lyuos. 
J/ylcd horolylcoH, wo occ.iiiiy otlior iiioniidH wyuoB 

Now !i (liiycH in (mi;;1oh(1(>. 
I!,'iii(li\s lio tho (lyHtryciM (if niiuiy yoiif^'o womon, 
And I'liU lowdo coiiiiHnyll i1i(\v gyuo vnio i;lioia : 
How yon do imiTy, bowiiro you yoiif^o moii! 

Tlio wyl'o lunior taryotb. to longo. 

Thoro 1)(^ Dimiy f^Tot.o Hcornors, 

ISni Cor wyniio ilioro bo fowo inournovs ; 

Wo liiiuo bill, fowo tr HO btiiovH 

In no ])l!UM) now ji, diiyoH. 
Tboro bo miuiy j^'oodly f^'yUo kiiynos, 
Anil, 1 ti'owo, iiH woll ai>])!U'uyUod wynos, 
Yot in.'uiy oi' Uiom bo ■vnlbryi'ty of tboyi- lyuos, 

And Jill Holi in [irydo i.o \x,o K"}''^' 

IVIiiyors on synno dooth no corroccyon. 
"Willi f^'oniyll nion boroth troutbo adovvno ; 
Auonivy is nuU'rod in ouoi-y iowno ; 

Anioiidynuud, i.s ilioro nono. 
And f^'oddoH ('.o;j«iiiiu;/donionl,oH, wo bi-oko ibom nil .x. 
J)ouocyon ih f^'ono, nisiny dayos nyu : 
Lot VM amondo vs, wo trowo cry«toii num, 

Or doth iiiiiko you grono ! 

Courtyons go gnyo, and tako lytoll wa.goH, 

And many with barbittoH at tho ta.uorno liauntos) 

Tboy bo yonion ol' tlio wrotlio l.hni bo Hliaklod in gyuoH, 

On tlioniHCiiro tboy baiio no pyto. [J5 iii back] 

God ]HtnyHHbotli full Horo with groto solconoHHO, 
Ah ])ook()H, po.stylonco, piirjilo, ajid axon, - 
Soiiio (lyoth Hodoynly that doth full poryloiiH, — 

Yot was thoro nouor so groto pouorto ! 

Thoro bo somo HornionoH nindo by noblo dootoiiros ; 
]5iit truly tbo I'oiido doibo utoppo iiKiniics oros; 
]|'or goil, nor good niiin. Homo pooplo not foros: 

Woi'Ho was liyt uouor ! 
All trouth is not host sn.yd, 
And our procluu's now a, dayos bo balfo nfi'aydo. 
WliaTi wo do amondo, god woldo bo woll apaydo : 

Worso was hyt nouor! 

Coutemplacyon and Perscucranco loose Pyte, and ho starts to 
arrest Ilyckscorner and his mates. Moantimo Frewyll conies 
back, and relates his and lina<2;ynacyou'8 thefts. Perseuoranco 
and Contoinplacyon argue witli him ; and though he scorns them 
at first, ho at last agrees to he sorry I'or his sins and save liis soul. 
To them comes Imagynacyon ; and he also, after much of his chafl", 
is persuaded to reform, and serve Persouerance, while Frewyll 
servos Coutemplacyon, both converting others. Of llyckescorner'a 
end nothing ia aaid. 



cxxii h. Nu Gt2e. 

L. Ifii Gize, or the New Guise. This is, no doubt, the Inter- 
lude published two years before Laneham wrote, ' for the purpose 
of vindicating and promoting the Eeformation.' It was reprinted 
in the last edition of Dodsley ; and copies of the original are in 
the British Museum (two), Bodleian (among Malone's books), 
Bridgewater House, Mr. Henry Huth's library, &c. " A New 
Enterlude / No lesse wittie : then pleasant, entituled / new Cus- 
tome, devised of late, and for diuerse / causes nowe set forthe, 
neuer before / this tyme Imprinted. / 1573. / 

The players names in this / Enterlude be these. / 

The Prologue 

Feruerse Doctrine an olde Popishe priest. 

Ignoraunce an other, tut elder. 

Newcustonie a minister. 

Light of the gospell a minister. 

Hypocrisie an olde woman. 

Creweltie a Ruffler. 

Auarice a Ruffler. 

Edification a Sage. 

Assurance a Vertue. 

Goddes felicitie a Sage. 

^ Fewer may play this Enterlude. 

J / Newe Custome. 

1 ■< Peruersedoctrine 3 \ Auarice. 

^ \ Assurance. 

( Ignoraunce ( Light of the Gospell. 

2 -< Hypocrisie . \ Creivelti 



_and Edification. i Goddes felicitie. 



4 

The Prologue. 



[Col] " Imprinted at London in Eleetestreete by William How 
for Abraham Veale, dwelling in Paules churche yarde at the signe 
of the Lambe." 4to. black letter, A, B, C, D, in fours, 16 leaves. 
Perverse-Doctrine opens the play by complaining of the * newe- 
fangled pratling elfes' who ' go about, vs auncients flatly to deface;' 
and specially of one young preacher who ' in London not longe 
since' in a Sermon reviled at the holy sacrament and transub- 
stantiation, disallowed the Popish rites, and said they were all 
superstition. Scene 2 brings in New-Custome lamenting the ills 
of his time, and contrasting them with the good old ' auncient 
times before'. As the writer clearly knew little of the latter, 
when, 

. . in comparison of this time of miserie, 

In those dales men lyued in perfect felicitie, 



L. Nu Gize. Cxxiii 

we had better take his account of the former. 

. . this is sure, that neuer in any age before, {sign B. ».) 

Naughtines and sinne hath ben practised more, 

Or halfe so muche, or at all, in respecte, so I saye, 

As is nowe (God amende all !) at this present daye. 

Sinne nowe, no sinne ; faultes, no faultes a whit. 

O God ! seest thou this ? and yet wylt suffer hit ? 

Surely thy mercie is great ; but yet our sinnes, I feare. 

Are so great, that of Justice with them thou canst not beare. 

Adulterie no vice : it is a thinge so rife ; 

A stale iest nowe, to lie with an other mannes wyfe ; 

For what is that but daliaunce ? Couetousnesse, they call 

Good husbandrie, when one man would faine haue all. 

And eke a-like to that is vnmercifull extorcion, 

A sinne, in sight of god, of great abhomination. {sign. B. i. bach.) 

For Pride ; that is now a grace ! for, roimde about, 

The humble-spirited is termed a foole or a lowte. 

"Who so will bee so drunken that hee scarsly knoweth hia waye, 

Oh, hee is a good fellowe ! so now a dales they saye. 

Gluttonie is Hospitalitie, while they meate and drmke spill 

Whiche would relieue diuerse whom famine doth kill. 

As for all charitable deedes : — they be gone, God knoweth : 

Some pretende lacke ; but the chiefe cause is slowth, 

A vice most outragiouse of all others, sure, 

Eight hateful! to God, and contrarie to nature. 

Scarse, bloud is pimished, but euen for very shame ; 

So make they of murther but a trifling game ! 

O ! how manie examples of that horrible Vice 

Do dayly among vs nowe spring and arise ! 

But thankes be to God, that such rulers doth sende, 

Whiche earnestly studie that fault to amende. 

As by the sharpe punishement of that wicked crime 

Wee may see, that committed was but of late time. 

God direct their heartes, they may alwaies continue 

Suche iust execution on sinne to ensue ! 

So shall be saued the life of many a man ; 

And God wyll withdrawe his sore plagues from vs than. 

Theft is but pollicie, Periurie but a face : 

Suche is now the worlde ! so farre men be from grace ! 

But what shall I say of Eeligion and knowledge 

Of God, whiche hath ben indifferent in cache age 

Before this ? howbeit, his faltes then it had, 

And in some poyntes then was culpable and bad ? 

Surelj'', this one thinge I may say aright ; 

God hath reiected vs away from him quight. 

And geuen vs vp whoUie vnto our owne thought, 

Utterly to destroy vs, and bring vs to nought. 

For do they not foUowe the inuentions of men ? 

Looke on the Primitiue Churche, and tell mee then 

Whether they serued God in this same wise, 

Or whether they followed any other guyse ? 

For since Goddes feare decayed, and Hypocrisie crept in, 

In hope of some gaines, and lucre to win, 

Crueltie bare a stroke, who with fagot and fier, 

Braught all thinges to passe that hee did desier. 

Next, Auarice spilt all ; whiche, lest it should be spide, 



cxxiv L. -Nu Gize. LI. Impacient Poverty. 

Hypocrisio ensued, tlio matter to hide. 

Then brought they in their monsters, their Masses, their Light, 

Their Torches at noono, to dai'ken oiu" sight ; 

Their Pojies, and their pardones, their Purgatories for sowles ; 

Their smolcing of tho Chui'ch, and flinging of coolcs. 

I sayde that tho Masse, and suche trumperie as that, — 

Popory, Purgatorio, pardons, ^ — were liatt [.Z> ij haclc] 

Against Goddes woorde, and Primitiue Constitution, 

Crept in through Couotousnesse and superstition,-— 

Of late yeres, through Blindenos, and men of no knowledge, 

Euon sucho as haue hen in euery age. 

Act 2 introduces Light-of-the-Gospell encouraging New-Cus- 
tome; Scene 2, traitor Ilypocrisie advising Perverse- Doctrine 
and Ignorance how to act ; but when she hears that Light-of-the- 
Gospell has come, she swears at him ; he ' will worko vs the mis- 
chiefe : ' 

For since these Geneuian doctours came so fiist into this lando, 

Since that time it was neuer merie with Englande. 

First came Newcustome, and liee gaue the onsay ; 

And sithens, thinges haue gone worse euerj' day. [^Sign C. ?// .] 

Scene 3 brings in Creweltie and Auarice, advising stocks, pri- 
sons, hanging, burning, as in Queen Mary's days ; but as that 
will not do, they cliauge their names to Justice-with-Severity, 
and Frugality — Perversedoctrine being Sounde-doctrine, and 
Ignorance, Simplicitie, to deceive men and pervert their minds. 
However, in Act 3, Light-of-the-Gospell converts Perversedoc- 
trine, advises Newcustome not to take too much heed to the 
fiashion of a garment, but to mind that ' the conscience be pure '; 
and Edification, Assui'ance, and Goddes-Pclicitie, successively 
counsel the company. 

The Captain's 'auncient playz' were the most moral books in 
his library. 

LI. Impacient Poverty. In the play of " Sir Thovias More 

contained in the Harleian MS. 73G8, and first printed in 18Ji4 

for the Shakespeare Society under the late Mr. Dyce's editorship, 

one of ' My Lord Cardinalls players ' comes in, and offers to act 

a play — as the phxyers afterwards did in ILamlet. — To More's 

question "I prethee, tell me, what playes haue ye?" the player 

answers : 

Diuers, my lord : The Cradle of Seeuritie'^, 
Hit nayle o' th head^, Impacient Pouertie, 



* Not extant. See an account of it in Collier'' s Sist. of Engl. Dram. Poet, 
ii. 272 sqq.— Dyce. 2 jjot extant.— D. 



hi. Impacient Poverty. 1A\. Br euiary of Health, cxxv 

The play of Foure Fees^, Flues and Lazarus^, 
Lustie Juventus^, and The Marriage of Witt and Wisedome*. 
Moore. The Mariage of Witt and Wiscdome ! that, my lads, 
Ilo none but that ! the theam is very good. 

No copy of the play is now known, but in D, E. Baker's Bio- 
graphia Dramatica (1764, continued by Is. Reed, 1782, and edited 
by (Stephen Jones, 1812) we find the following entry on p. 328, 
col. 1 :— 

90. A Newe Interlude op Impaciente Poverte, newlye 
Imprinted M.V. L. X (We suppose 1560) 4to. This piece is in 
metre, and in the old black-letter ; and the title-page says : " Four 
Men may well and easelye playe this Interlude. ''' 

IV. Captain Cox's Book of Medicine. 

LII. Doctor Boords Breuiary of Health. I have printed large 
extracts from this book, and given an account of it, of Boorde's 
other works, and his Life, in my edition of his Fyrst BoJce of the 
Introduction of Knoioledge 1547 or -8, and his Dijetary 1542, etc., 
for the Early English Text Society's Extra Series 1870. To this 
volume I refer my readers, — recommending them to read at least 
Boorde's comments on 7 Evils of England, — and only repeat here 
that the Breuiary is a brief ' alphabetical list of diseases by their 
Latin names, with their remedies, and the way of treating them. 
Other subjects are introduced, as Mulier a woman^, Nares nose- 

* (4 P's) By John Heywood. Reprinted in Dodsley's Old Flays, vol. i. — D. 
^ Not extant. It was written by a player, if we may trust to a passage in 

Greene's Groatsworth of Wit ; see Collier's Hist, of Engl. Fram. Foet. ii. 272, 
•* By E. Wever (for I cannot think with Mr. Collier — Hist, of Engl. Fram. 
Foet. ii. 317 — that there is any reason for doubting that Wever was its author.) 
Reprinted in Hawkins's Origin of the English Frama, vol. i. 

■* " The Contract [? MS.] of a Marige betweene wit and wisdome, very 
frutefull, and mixed full of pleasant mirth, as well for the beholders as the 
readers or hearers : never before imprinted . . . 1679." Additional MS 26,782 
in the British Museum. This title is either copied from a printed edition or 
from a copy prepared for press. No early printed edition is known. Mr. 
lialliwell edited this Interlude for the Shakespeare Society in 1846. The 
Play acted in Sir Thomas More as The Mariage is ' nothing more than a por- 
tion of Lusty Inventus, with alterations and a few additions.' — Dyce, Sir Thomas 
More, p. 61. 

* Furthermore now why a woman is named a woman, I wyll shewe my 
mynde. Homo is the latin worde, and in Englyshe it is as wel for a woman 
as for a man ; for a woman, the silables co;merted, is no more to say as a man 
in wo ; and set wo before man, and then it is woman ; and wel she may be 
named a woman, for as muche as she doth here chyldren with wo and peyne ; 
and also she is subiect to man, except it be there where the white mare is the 
better horse ; therfore Vt homo non cantet cum cuculo, let euery man please his 
wyfe in all matters, and displease her not, but let her haue her owne wyl, for 
that she wyll haue, who so euer say nay. (Fol. Ixxxii, sign L. ii., back.) 



cxxvi LII. Doctor Board's Breuiary of Health. 

thx'illes, &e.' The Breuiary was written by Boorde by the year 
1542, though it was not publisht till 1547, — with its 2nd part, 
the Extrauagantes, — having been 'examined in Oxford in June' 
15461. Boorde intended it as a companion to his Dyetary : 

" I wolde that euery man hauynge this hoke, shulde haue the sayd Dyetary 
of Health with this hoke, consideryng that the one booke is concurrant with 
the other." 

His own account of the Breuiary, in his Preface to it is as follows : 

"Gentyll readers, I haue taken some peyne in makyug this hoke, to do 
sycke men pleasure and whole men profyte, that sycke men may recuperate 
theyr health, and whole men may preserue theym selfe frome syckenes (with 
goddes helpe) as well in Phisicke as in Chierurgy. But for as much as olde, 
aimcyent, and autentyke auctours or doctours of Physicke, in theyr bokes doth 
wryte many obscure termes, geuyng also to many and dyuerse infirmyties, 
darke and harde names, dyflfycyle to vnderstande, some and mooste of all 
beynge Greeke wordes, some and fewe beynge Araby wordes, some beynge 
Latyn wordes, and some beynge Barbarus wordes. Therefore I haue trans- 
lated all suche obscure wordes and names into Englyshe, that euery man 
openlye and apartly maye vnderstande them. Furthermore, all the aforesayde 
names of the sayde infirmites be set togji;her in order, accordynge to the 
letters of the Alphabete, or the .A. B. C. So that as many names as doth 
hegyn with A. be set together, and so forth, all other letters as they be in 
order. Also there is no sickenes in man or woman, the whiche maye be frome 
the crowne of the head to the sole of the fote, but you shall fynde it in this 
booke, as well the syckenesses the which doth parteyne to Chierurgy as to 
phisicke, and what the sickenes is, and howe it doth come, and medecynes for 
the selfe same. And for as much as euery man now a dayes is desyrous to 
rede briefe and compendious matters. I therefore in this matter pretende to 
satisfye mens myndes as much as I can, namynge this booke accordyng to the 
matter, which is. The Breuiary of health." (Fol. v., sign A. v.) 



V. Captain Cox's Ballads. 

"We now come to the Captain's " bunch of ballets & songs, all 
auncient "; but unluckily Laneham didn't care so much for our old 
English ditties as he did for our story-books and poems, and has 
therefore stinted us to seven names of ballads, and that disap- 
pointing "a hundred more." What possesst the man to care 
more for the songs that showed off his " Spanish sospires, his 
French heighes, his Italian dulcets, his Dutch hovez, his doubl 
releas, his hy reachez, his fine feyning, his deep diapason, his 
wanton warblz, his running, his tyming, his tuning, & his 
twynkling," than for our merry old greenwood songs? Let's all 

* Lowndes says that it was reprinted in 1548, 1552, 1577, etc. I have not 
been able to see the 1547 and 1548 editions, hut of the 1552 one, and the 
next, I have titleless copies. 



Captain Cox's Ballads. 



CXXVll 



vote him a noodle for this ; though no doubt the " Gentlwemen " 
of his time liked the sentimental ballads best, as they generally 
do now. So we must forgive the ladies, and turn to the seven 
ballads that Laneham does name. Of them, only four have been 
identified ; and as the first and last are partly given, with nine 
others (perhaps 9 of Captain Cox's * hundred more ') in a play of 
the period, we may as well make an extract from that first. The 
play is " A very mery and Pythie Coramedie, called The longer 
thou liuest, the more foole thou art. A Myrrour very necessarie 
for youth, and specially for such as are like to come to dignitie 
and promotion : As it maye well appeare in the Matter folowynge. 
Newly compiled by W. Wager [Woodcut] ^ Imprinted at 
London by Wyllyam HoW for Eicharde Johnes : and are to be 
soldo at his shop vnder the Lotterie house " [ab. 1568, says Mr. 
Hazlitt's Randhoolc]. (A B C D E F G in fours, but Giij signed 
A iij ; leaf iij of D E F signed, but not that of A B C. British 
Museum Press-mark, C. 34. e. 37.) 

After ' the Prologe,' [A 3] ' Q. Here entreth Moros, counterfait- 
ing a vaine gesture and a foolish countenance, Synging the foote 
of many Songes, as fooles were wont 



Moros. BEome, Brome on hill, 
The gentle Brome on hill hill : 
Brome, Brome on Hiue hill, 
The gentle Brome on Hiue hill, 
The Brome standes on Hiue hill a. 

(J Robin, lende to me thy Bowe, thy 

Bowe, 
Eobin the bow, Robin lende to me thy 

bow a: 

(J There was a Mayde come out of 

Kent, 
Deintie loue, deintie loue. 
There was a mayde cam out of Kent, 
Daungerous be : 

There was a mayde cam out of Kent, 
Fayre, propre, small and gent, 



As euer vpon the grounde went, 

For so should it be. 

d By a banke as I lay, I lay, 

Musinge on things past, hey how. 

(J Tom a lin and his wife, and his 
wiues mother, 

They went ouer a bridge all three to- 
gether ; 

The bridge was broken, and they fell 
in : 

" The Deuil go with all !" quoth Tom 
a lin. 

(J Martin swart and his man, sodle- 
dum, sodledum. 

Martin swart and his man, sodledum 
belli. 



1 Skelton, laureat, (who died in 1529) has an evident allusion to the same 
song: 

" With hey troly lo, whip here Jak. 
Alumbek sodyldym syllorym len, 
Curiowsly he can both counter and knak 
Of Martyn Swart and all hys mery men," 

(Against a comely Coystrowne, etc., Works (1736), p. 2-51.) 

Martin Swart was concerned in the insui-rection made by the lord Lovel and 
others against Henry VII, anno 1486, and was slain at the battle of Stoke; 



cxxviii LIII. Broom, Broom on Hil. 



(J Com oner tlie Boome, Besse, 
My little pretie Besse, 
Com ouer the Boome, besse, to me^. 
(J The white Doue sat on the Castell 

wall, 
I bend my Bow, and shoote her I 

shall, 



Moros. I haue Twentie mo songs 
yet, — [A 3 back] 

A fond woman to^ my Mother, 
As I war wont in her lappe to sit. 
She taug'ht me these and many other ; 
I can sing " a song of Eobin Redbrest, 
And my litle pretie Nightingale;"^ 



I put hir in my Gloue, both fethers | " There dwelleth a ioUy Foster here 
andaU. ; by west;" 



I layd my Bridle upon the shelfe ; 
If you wiU any more, sing it your 

selfe. 
Discipline. Lorde, are you not 

ashamed, 
Thus vainly the time to spende. . . . 



Also, "I com to drink som of your 
Christmas ale." 

Whan I walke by my selfe alone, 

It doth me good my songs to render. 

Such pretie thinges would soone be 
gon. 

If I should not sometime them re- 
member. 

LIII. Broom, Broom on Sil. This ballad is in the list of tlie 
Complaynt of Scotland, some 27 years before Laneham^, but is now 

having been sent over with some troops, by Margaret, duchess of Burgundy, 
sister to K. Edward IV. Eitson's Ancient Songs, vol. i. p. Ixxxiv, note, ed. 1829. 
See also Dyce's notes in his Skelton's Works, ii. 93-4. 

' Shakspere has put these three identical lines into the mouth of Edgar in 
K. Lear. A moraUzation of the song is (with the music) in the editor's folio 
MS. [Brit. Mus. Additional MS. 5665. See notes to Forewords.] Eitson, ib. 
p. Ixxxv, note. 

2 I had to, was. 

^ [Appendix to the Eoyal MSS 58, leaf 7 bk. See also leaf 6, back.] 

The lytyll prety nyghtyne gale 

a-mong<; the leuys grene, — 
I wolde I wert* wj'th hur« all nyght ! 

but j'^et ye wote not whome I mene. 

The nyghtynge gale sat one a brere, 

Amonge the thornys sherpe & keync, 
and comfort me wyth mery chere : 

but yet j^e wot not home I mene. 

She dyd apere all on hurt' kj-nde 

a lady ryght well be-sejTigc, 
Wit/i wordys of loff tolde me Ymre mjTide : 

but yet ye wote not whome I mene. 

hyt dj^d me goode a-pont? hurfi to loke ; 

hiire corse was closyd all in grene ; 
awaj' fro me hure hert she toke ; 

but yet ye wot not whome I mene. 
"lady," I crj^ed wji'h rufull mone, 

"haue mynd of me that true hath bene, 
for I loue none but you alone :" 

but yet ye wot not whome I mene. 

* See below, p. cliii. (62). 

* MS. I wolde I were, I wolde I were. The final 11 of the MS has always 
a line over it. 



LIII. Broom, Broom. LIV. So well iz me begon. cxxix 

lost. Mr, Wm. Chappell in his Popular Music ii. 458-461 gives 
an account of the English ballad and tune of The 'broom of Cowdon 
Knowes, and others connected with it. Its burden is 

With O the broom, the honny hroom, I Fain would I he in the North Country, 
The hroom of Cowdon Knowes ; | To milk my daddies ewes. 

But this is not to be identified with Laneham's ballad, the only 

one approaching to which is contained in the lines above, p. cxxvii, 

sung by Moros, in Wager's interlude, " which appears," says Mr, 

Chappell, " to have been written soon after Elizabeth came to the 

throne . . . 

Brome brome on hill, I Brome, brome on Hive hill, 

The gentle brome on hill, hill : | The brome stands on Hive hill-a." 

Mr. Chappell quotes the passage, and then observes " This repe- 
tition does not give the metre or the correct words of the song " 
meaning, of course, the later song known to us. " The tune, or 
upper part, was to be sung by one person, while others sang a 
foot, or burden, to make harmony." 

"The ballad oi JB^-ome on hill in Mr. Grutch's BoUn Hood ii. 
363 is a modern fabrication." The earliest ballad of the kind 
preserved, is described by Mr. Chappell as a black-letter one 
in the Pepys Collection, i, 40, entitled The new Broome, London, 
printed for P, Coles — whose date is from 1646 to 1674 — and con- 
sisting of 7 stauzas with the following burden : 

The bonny broome, the well favour' d broome. 

The broome blooms faire on hill ; 
What ail'd my love to Hghtly mee, 

And I working her will ? 

LIV. So wo [= well] iz me hegon, Troly lo. This song in praise 
of Serving- Men, Ritson printed in his Ancient Songs from the Time 
of King Henry tlie Third to the Revolution, 1790, p. 92, from the 
Sloane MS 1584, 'a small book, partly paper, partly parchment, 
chiefly written by " Johannes Gysborn, Canonicus de Couerham," 
whose manual or pocket book it seems to have been^, tempore 

* The book is an odd mixture of recipes, hymns, songs, a tract (imperfect) 
on a priest's duties, questions to be put at the confessional, etc. etc. From 
the latter, take 

Questions for a woman. (Leaf 8.) 

TTaue ye maid youe more gayer in Reymewt off kercheus one your hed, for 

plesur of y<= world, ore off the pepull, ony tyme more thene other ? haue 

youe obeyd join: husband at alle tymes, os ye are bownd ? haue youe weschyd 

your face -with any styllyd waters ore oynteme^^tes to make youe fayrer in the 

h 



cxxx LIV. So well iz me heyon. 

Hen. 8.' The song is on the back of leaf 45, betwen the recipe 
for ' a souerayne laxatyffe ' and a Sermon for Easter-day. 

So well ys me be-gone, troly lole ! 
so ■well ys me be-gone, troly \o\f. 

Off seruyng^ men. I wyll Toegj'ne, Troly, loley, 

fifor they goo mynyon trym ; Troly loley. 

Off mett & drynk & feyr clotliyiig, Troly loley. 

by dere god, I want none . Troly, loley 

His bonet is of fyne scarlett . Troly loley, 

Wit/i here as black os geitt . Troly^ lolye. 

His dublett ys of fyne satyne . Troly lolye 

Hys sbertt well mayd, & tryme* ; Troly, lolye. 

Hys coytt itt is so tryme & rownde ; Troly, lolye. 

His kysse is worth A hundred jjoutid^. Troly, lolye 

His hoysse of london black . Troly lolye 

In hyme ther ys no lack . Troly lolye. 

His face yt ys so lyk a maw . Troly, lolye. 

Who cane butt loue hyme thaw ? Troly, lolye. 

Wher so euer he bee, he hath my hert . Troly lolye. 

And shall to deth de part^ . Troly lolye. 

So well ys me be-gone . troly, loly. 

S[o] well ys me be gone . Troly, lolye. 

syght off pepull ? haue youe schewyd your brestes open to tempt any to syne ? 
haue youe had any enuy agayns any womane, that sche has bene fayrer then 
youe, or better louyd then youe ? haue ye sjoinyd in lechere ■with any mane 
be-syd your husband ? haue ye synnyd Vfith your husband whew ye haue 
ben in childbed ? haue ye ouer-lyne your chyld, ore peryschyd itt att any 
tyme? haue youe gyffune any drynke vnto your husband to make hyme 
lystear to occupye with youe ? haue youe drunkune any contagius drynke to 
dystrowe your chyld, other weddyd ore syngull ? haue youe bene mystem- 
pe?yd with ale att any tyme ? haue ye swome with any womane in any pur- 
gacion apon a boke, & has for-sworne youe wyUyngly ? haue ye consentyd 
vnto any bawdry for [leaf 9] lukar off money, and keppyd ther cownsellf ? 
haue ye bakbytyd ore slaunderd any maw or womaw, & browght them in a 
nyll name ? haue yowe maid any soleme vowe of fast ore pylgrimage ? haue 
youe payd your tythes & offeryng^s onto the chirche ? haue youe done your 
pennans that ye haue bene Inueyd [?] be-fore tyme." 

All the final <^'s have a curly tail which may mean e. I have long intended 
to print one or two of these early Confessional treatises, as a help to enable us 
to understand the practical working of the Romish system in English homes. 

* Compare, in Syehescorner, sign. C. i. 

Now wyU I synge, and lustely sprynge ; 
But whan my feters on my leges dyde rynge, 
I was not glade, perde ! but now, hey trolly lolly ! 

And William Comyshe's song facsimiled in Mr. Wm. ChappeU's paper in 
ArchcBologia, xli. 372, one of a hundred specimens of a ' TroUy Lolly ': — 

Trolly lolly, lo ! syng troly loly ! 
my loue is to the grene wode gone ; 
now after her will I go ! 

syng trolly lolly, lo trolly lolly ! 

^ sujTig, Ritson. 3 Torly, orig. < fyne, Eitson. 

* C\ orig. ^ ? do part, or departe, divide us. 



LV-LIX. Hey ding a ding. By a bank as I lay. cxxxi 



LV. Ouer a whinny, Meg. Not known now, 

LVI. Hey ding a ding. This is the burden of the famous old 
ballad " Old Simou the King," and that was possibly the ballad 
which Captain Cox possesst. It is printed in Durf'ey's Pills to 
purge Melancholy, 1719, iii. 143, and in the Percy Folio Loose 
Songs, p. 124, from which, as it gives the burden ' for the first 
time complete,' I reprint the first verse of the ballad below. The 
two tunes to which the ballad was sung, with a text of the ballad, 
and much interesting information about it, are given by Mr. Wm. 
Chappell in his Popular Music i. 262-269, and he has further 
notes on it in bis vol. ii. p. 776, 792, 796. 

In an humor I was of late, 

as many good fellowes bee, 
that thinke of no matter of state, 

but the keepe merry Companye : 
that best might please my mind, 

soe I -walket vp & downe the towne ; 
but company none cold I ffind 

till I came to the signeof thecrowne. 
mine ostes was sicke of the mumpes, 

her mayd was ffisle' att ease. 



mine host lay drunke in his dumpes : 

"they all had but one disease," 
sayes old simon the Kincf, sayes old 

Simon the King, 
with his ale-dropt hose, & his malmesy 

nose, 
with a hey ding, ding a ding, ding, 
with a hey [ding, ding a ding, ding,] 
with a hey ding [ding], q?<(yth Simon 

the king2. 



not known now. 



LVII. Bony lass vpon a green "i 
LVIII. My hony on gaue me a leh J 
LIX. By a lanh as I lay. This exists in a IVIS, one of the 
Appendix of Eoyal MSS, No. 58, leaf 8, back. 

[By a Bancke as I Lay.] 



By a bancke as I lay 

musynge my selfe A-lone — hey how ! 

A bjTdys yoyce 

dyd me Eeioyce, 

syngynge by -fore the day ; 

And my-thought in hure lay 

she sayd wynter was past — ^hey 

how ! 

Dan dyry, cwn den, dan dyry, 

cum dyry, cum djTy, ^cvLin djo-y, 

cam dyry, cu»j dan ! hey how ! 

The master of musyke, 

the lusty nyghtyngale — hey how ! 



ffulle meryly 

& secretly 

She syngyth in the thyke. 

And vnder hure brest a prike, 

to kepe hure fro slope — Hey how, 
Dan [&c] 

A- wake, there-for, yoimge men, 

Alle ye that louers be — hey how ! 

thus"* monyth of may, 

soo fresh, soo gay. 

So fayi-e be feld on^ fen, 

hath ffloryshe ylke a den ; 

gxete Toy hyt is to see, — hey how ! 
&c. 



Dr. Eimbault printed this ballad iu his Little Booh of Songs 
and Ballads 1851, p. 53-4, with few and adew (like Mr. Collier*') 



' ? breaking wind. 

3 leaf 9. 

« Stat. Reg. i. 193-4. 



2 The line is nearly all pared away. 
' read ' this.' ^ read ' and.' 

See my Andrew Boorde, p. 71, note ''. 

h2 



cxxxii Captain Cox's Almanacks. 

iovfen and a den, — and added on p. 55-6 a differing later copy, 
naming ' noble James our king,' from Deuteromelia, or the Second 
Part of Musich's Melodie, or Melodius Musicke of Pleasant 
Boundelaies, etc., 1609. Its second line is " musing on a thing 
that was past and gone," which, the Doctor notes, is nearer to 
Wager's "Musinge on things past, hey how," than the 2nd line 
of the Eoyal MS. copy. Dr. Eimbault also says" At the end of 
the only copy known to exist of a Collection of Secular Songs, 
printed in 1530, a Song is inserted in MS. beginning with the 
same words [as Wager's?], but containing a laboured panegyric 
upon Henry the Eighth. The Editor has not seen this copy." 

Mr. Chappell gives the tune, and an account, of this song at 
p. 92-3 of his Popular Music, vol. i. ; and at p. 52 quotes from 
the Life of Sir Peter Carew, by John Vowell, alias Hoker, of 
Exeter, {Archceologia, vol. 28) "the kiug himself [Henry VIII] 
being much delighted to sing, and Sir Peter Carew having a plea- 
sant voice, the king would often use him to sing with him certain 
songs they call ' Freemen Songs,' as namely, ^ By the hancTce as I 
lay,' and ' As I walked the wode so wylde,' " &c. 

" And a hundred more," says Laneham. Oh that we had their 
names ! 

Captain Cox's Almanacks. 

AVe now come to the last section of Captain Cox's books, his 
Almanacks. Prof. De Morgan would be the right man^ to give us 
an account of these. I can only oiFer a list of those by the Cap- 
tain's three authors that have come under my notice, adding two 
of Dade's, because he is mentioned in " The Kinge enioyes his 
rights againe " in the Percy Folio Ballads ii. 2519. We'll take 
those in Bagford's list first, because he mentions among them an 
unknown Caxton, though Mr. Wm. Blades judges this "all fudge!": 

Bagford's Collections. Harl. MS. 5937, leaf S^. 

"A Catalouge of Almonickes sence y'' first printing of them. 

and y"^ first I haue met with is y^ prodnostication of Mr. Jasper 

* He is gone, alas, with all his weight of learning, and all his fun, since the 
proof of this went back for revise. 

2 On another leaf Bagford queries when the first edition of the Book of 
Knowledge (Andrew Boorde's) was puhlisht. In 1547-8, no doubt. See my 
reprint, E. E. T. Soc. 1870. 



Almanacks by the Laets. cxxxiii 

Leate of Antwarpe, and translated out of Lattin into English ; and 

printed in 4", by will Caxton 1493^ 

" The grate & true prodnostication with a Almonicke composed 
by M'. John Leat of Barthlom, D"^. Medicyne and Astro [no] me, 
preceptor and Eector of y^ Scoold of Antwarpe, in 8 . . . 1521 

in 4° 1535 

8- 1539 

8- 1541" 

There is however a bit of an earlier almanac by Jasper Laet de 
Borchloen in the fragments in the Lambeth Library, namely for 
the year 1510, which is described by Maitland in his JEarly Printed 
Books at Lambeth, p. 264^. 

Among Bagford's titlepages and fragments are the following by 
the Laets : 

Harl. MS. 5937, leaf 18, N° 58. (a.d. 1516.) 

d The pronosticacio?^ of maister Jaspar late, of borchloon / 
doctour in astrologie, of the yere . M. CCCC. xvi. trans/lated 
in/to ynglissh, to the honorre of te [so] moost noble & vie-/ 
torious kynge Henry the .viij. by your moost humble sub-/iect, 
iS^icholas longwater, goeuerner of our lady conception / in y^ re- 
nowmed towne of Andwarp, in sinte lorge perys / (6 lines at the 
top of 1 leaf full of 'printing.) 

Harl. 5937 leaf 11, N" 26 (a.d. 1523) 

A pronosticacyon / of Master lasper Laet de / borchloen Doctor 
in medycy/ne for y"^ yere of our lorde god / M. v. C. &. xxiiii. / 
(J Cum gracia et priuilegio. / ([ laspar Laet. {^Over a cut, and 
with elaborate borders. 2 leaves) 

lb. N° 33, If. 12 bk and 13. (A full sheet & complete Alma- 
nack, A.D. 1530. The headline is:) "([ Almynack and Pronosti- 
cation of the yere of oure lord M, LLLLL, and , xxx," And at 
foot is : " Graspar Laet The yonger, Docter yn Phy[syk]. Em- 
prented at Autwerpe by me Cristofel of E-uremunde." 

MS. Harl. 5937, If. 16, N° 51 (a.d. 1533) 

The pronosticaci[on] / [calcujled by mayster laspar Lae[t of] / 
Andwarpe / vpon the merydian / of the sayd towne, for the / yere 
of our lorde god. / M. D.xxxiij. (over a cut of an astronomer, 
with a quadrant, looking at 6 stars and a comet : at back is) 

* Mr. Hazlitt enters, in his Handbook p. 484, col. 1, No. 4, a ' Prognostica- 
tion ty Gaspar late, of Antwerpe, . . . for the yere, M. CCCCXXX. IIII ; but 
he must have left out a C, and meant 1534 : compare the 1533 title below. 

2 Maitland also refers to two Prognostications by James Laet, in Fanzer, 
II. 346, No. 71 1. I cannot find any life of the Laets, 



cxxxiv Almanacks by the Laets. 

Bicause that .xliiij [yeres] past my father mayster Iasp[ar] Laet, 
and .XX. yere before hym, his father mays[ter] lohn laet (Whome 
lesu pardon), bothe astro[no]mers, hath yerely, vnto the profyte 
of the comyn [welthe calcujlate and put forth certayn pronosty- 
cacions .... wherfore I have proposed . . to furnysshe the same, 
after the noble and true sci[ence of Astro] nomy .... 

Harl. 5937, If. 16, N" 50. (a.d. 1541) 

g Pronostica-/cio« of the yere / of our Lorde / M, v*^, xlj, / 
d Practysed by the re/nowned doctor in / Astronomy and / 
Physicke / Jaspar Laet /. {On the back is:) "For as much as I 
haue taken vpou me yearely to shewe the influences with theyr 
operations here beneth vpon earth, and that, folowynge alwaye, for 
the most parte, Ptolome in his seconde boke Apotelesmaton, as one 
that is best alowed of experte Astronomers, notwithstandynge 
that he is very brefe and harde in his writynge : Therefore shall I 
fy[r]ste brefely recyte the princypall fundamewtes of our present 
Pronostication, leste it shulde be supposed she were pronosticated 
vaynly and without foundament. 

" The fyrst fundament shalbe the Eclipse of the Sonne of the 
yeare of .xxxix. last past, the xviii. day of Apryll, at .iii. of the 
clocke at after noone, which was of the greatnesse of .ix. poyntes, 
which Eclipse shall yet geue influence very strongly, by reason 
of his distaunce from the orientall corner (for it befell in the 
.viii. degre of Taurus, in the .viii. house), and also because the 
same eclypse dyd last nerehande .ii. houres, as we dyd sbewe at 
length at that tyme. 

" The secounde fundament is & shalbe the Eclipse of the Sonne 
of the yeare of .xl. last." (2 leaves. I do?i't print the second.) 

leaf 18 back, no. 62 (a.d. 1542 ?) 

>J< An Aim [a] / nacke & P[ro]-/nostication of the ren[ow-] / med 
doctor in Astron[omye] / lasper Laet the yere of [our] Lord Grod. 
.M. ccccc [xl..] / and the declaration of th[e] / signes and theyr 
qualit[es] / with the son rysynge / (j Imprinted in Lon[don] / 
by John Waley (2 leaves) 

leaf 15 back, (under Borde's Pronosticacyon of 15451) N° 47 

(a.d. 1543) 

Almanack / and Pronostica-/tion of Jaspar Laet. / Of the 
yare, of our / Lord Grod. M. D. / XLIII. / g In this Almanacke 
ye / shall fynde, all the Epystles and Gos-/pels of euery Sondaye 
and holy daye. (2 leaves) 

^ One leaf, printed in my Boorde, p. 25. 



Almanacks by Laet and Nostradamus. cxxxv 

A.D, 1544 

1^0 48 Pronosticatiow of Ja[spar] / Laet doctor of Phisicke 
and Astro [nomer] / for the yere of our Lorde God / M. v'^. xliiij. 

A.D. 1550. 

A Pronostication for the year of oure Lorde M. CCCCC. L, cal- 
culated for the Meridian of Antwerp, &c. by Jasper Late, W. H. 
Octavo {Herlert's Ames, 1786, i. 584.) 

We now come " unto Nostradam of Frauns," for printing 
whose Almanacs there is a regular shoal of licences and fines in 
the Stationers' Register A. Bagford's first title is that of the 
Almanac of 1566 : 

Harl. MS. 5937, leaf 14. 

An Almanicke made by the Noble and worthy Clarke, Michaell 
Nostra [da] mes J)^ in phisick : Imprinted at Loudon by Jo. King- 
ston 1559 

Id. an outher of y^ same Nostridames, Imprinted by will: Cop- 
land for Nicolas England 1559 

Harl. 5937, If. 25, N« 120 

"An Almanacke / and prodigious premonstrati-/on, made for 
the yeare of / grace. 1566. By / Mi. Nostrodamus, / § * § / 

The God wliich eche mans visage well doth see, 

His temple gates to come for to vnbarre : 
And Pandores boxe vncouered shall bee, 

A great thicke cloude for to dissolue ixom farre. 

[over a woodcut of a globe in a frame, with the legend ' Admi- 
randus Altissimus.'] 

(I Imprinted at London by Henry Denhara." (Title only) 

but the Stationers' Kegister A begins in 1558 with 

Liike Haryson Lucke Haryson ys lycensed to prynte the p?'onostication of m' 
nostradamus and also his almanack for the same yere . viijd. 

and in the year 1558-9 

William Copland, for pryntinge of a pronostication of nosterdamus vfiih- 
oute lycense, and for mysbehavynge hym selfe before the master and 
wardyns, was fjTied at iijs. iiijd. 

Mr. Halliwell says "Dibdin (N° 2733) mentions an " Almanacke 
for the yeare 1559 composed by Mayster Mych. Nostradamus," 
8vo. In the Stationers' Register A, leaf 85, we have 

m' Wally Recevyd of m' wallye for his lycense for pryntinge of an alma- 
nacke & pronostication of nostradamus for this yere a" 1562 viijd 



cxxxvi Almanacks by Securis and Dade. 

Of the Almanacs of " oour John Securiz of Salsbury" we find 
these entries in the Stationers' Register A : 

(leaf 72 back, a.d. 1561-2.) 
J. Wally p> of master Wally for his lycense for pryntinge of an almanacke 
of John securys iiijd 

m'' Wally Kecevyd of m'' wallye, for his Ij'-cense for pryntinge of an alma- 
nacke & pronostication of m'' John Securys for the yere of oux 
lorde god 1563 viijd. (MS. If. 85) 

(MS, If. 134 back.) 
T marshe / Keceyvd of Thomas marshe, for his lycense for pryntinge^ 

of an almanacke & pronostication of m"^ John Securis for>- viijd 
a" 1566 / 3 

Mr. Halliwell says ' In the Bodleian Library is preserved " A 
newe Almanacke for the yere of our Lord Grod, 1567, practised in 
Salisbury by Maister John Securis, Phisitian."' I can find no 
life or notice of Securis. 

Bagford has also a leaf of an almanac by Securis, a.d. 1573, 
Harl. MS. 5937, If. 25. 

No. 123 (John Securis a.d. 1573) 

" (J A Prognos-/tication made for the / yeare of our Lord Grod, / 
1573. / d Practised in Salisburie, by lohn / Securis Maister of 
Art and / Phisicke / Anno Mundi 5535 / (over a cut of a war- 
rior (?) on a 4-wheeled chariot drawn by 2 horses) 

d Imprinted at London, by Richard / Watkins, & lames 
Eobarts / Cum priuilegio Eegise Maiestatis." 

Lastly, we note the bits of Dade's Almanacs in Bagford's 
collection in Harl. MS. 5937, for the reason given on p. cxxxii. 

" No. 125. Dade. / A prognostication / in which you may 
be/holde the. state of this / present yeere of our / Lord God, 
M. DC. / Made and set foorth by / lohn Dade G-ent. prac/ticioner 
in Phisicke. / Imprinted at London for Ed/ward White, the 
assigne of / lames Eoberts. 

" No. 126. Dade. 1600. / An Almanacke and / Prognostication 
in which / you may behold the state of / this yeere of our Lord 
God / 1600. / Beeing leape yeere. / Made and set foorth by lohn / 
Dade Gent, practitioner in / Phisicke. / Imprinted at London 
by / Eichard Watkins and / lames Eobertes / Cum priuilegio 
Eegiaj Maiestatis. / " (Both in Harl. 59397, leaf 25 back.) 

On leaf 7 back, Bagford also notes 

" An Almanicke and prognosticacion in which you may behould y^ State of 
y« Yeare of our L** god 1599: made and set ifoiirth: by Jo: Dade Gent 



Reason for the sketch of Capt. Cox's books, cxxxvii 

praktiser in phisicke, and Imprinted by Eich. Watkins & James Roberts 

in 8 1699 

Id. on in 12 by y^ same Dade, and Imprinted at London by Assignes of 
James Robertes 1602 

That a so-called Dade's Almanack was publisht so late as 
1694, for the year 1695, see Harl. 5937, leaf 64, No. 338. 

My reason for giving a sketch of all Captain Cox's books, and 
printing all his ballads, that I could get at, was, that my readers 
might contrast the literature of the reading unpious middle-class 
man of Elizabeth's pre-Shaksperean time^, with tliat of the same 
kind of man now, and also think whence Spenser, Shakspere, 
Bacon, Milton, sprang, and what we owe to them. And surely, 
no member of the Tory Party even, can want ' the good old 
times ' of literature before 1575, back again in our Victorian age, 
far as we are from what we ought now to be. But still, don't 
let us misjudge the said old times ; neither wholly, nor mainly, 
was their sky filled with cumuli of silliness, or dark storm-clouds 
of coarseness ; the sun of manliness was plainly seen, and rays of 
love, of friendly truth, and honest mirth, cheered the beholder's 
heart. 



We now turn to compare the Englishman's list by Laneham, 
with the Scotchman's list in the Gomplaynt of Scotland; but must 
recollect that we are putting the Tradesman who has made his own 
way in the world, beside the Scholar, one who, though he has his 
affectations as well as Laneham, is a far more cultured man, and 
writes with a far higher purpose. He is a Reformer, part of the 
salt of the earth. To his more serious ends his book was at first 
wholly devoted ; but happily he determined to hand dovfn to the 
aftertime an account of his countrymen's lighter readings and 
sports, — the books, songs, tunes, and dances, that cheered the 
hard life of Scotland in the middle of the sixteenth century-. 
He accordingly, as Mr. James A. H. Murray will show in his 
edition of the Gomplaynt for the Extra Series of the Early English 
Text Society 1872 or 1873, — inserted into his book, after the 

^ He most probably couldn't read Cbaucer, as bis modem representative 
can't, tbougb I bope oin: Societies are belping to alter tbat. 

- Tbat it was bard, — yes, very hard, — see my Preiace to Lauder's Minor 
Poems, E. E. Text Soc. 1870. 



cxxxviii "The Complaynt-ofScotland" tales, 

sheets were printed, some pages on' different paper, of which the 
part that concerns us now is as follows : 

" I thynk it best that ve recreat our selfis vytht ioyus comonyng 
quhil on to the tyme that ve return to the scheip i'ald vytht our 
flokkis. And to begyn sic recreatione, i thynk it best that euyrie 
ane of vs tel ane gude tayl or fabil, to pas the tyme quhile enyn. 
Al the scheiphirdis, ther vyuis and saruandis, var glaid of this 
propositiowe. than the eldest scheiphird began, and al the laif fol- 
louit, ane be ane in ther auen place, it vil be ouer prolixt, and no 
les tideus, to reherse them agane vord be vord. hot i sal reherse 
su«i of ther namys that i herd, sum vas in prose, & sum vas in 
verse: sum var storeis, and sum var flet taylis. Thir var the 
narais of them as efter follouis. 

(1) The taylis of cantirberrye, 

[By GeoiFrey Chaucer. Editions before 1548 : by Caxton, about 1478, 
from a bad MS, and ab. 1484 from a better MS. ; by Pynson about 1493 
and (with the Boke of Fame, and Troylus,) in 1526 ; by Wyhkyn de 
"Worde in 1498 ; in The Workes (ed. Wm. Thynne), by Thomas Godfray 
in 1532 ; and by John Eeynes or Wyllyam Bonham in 1542, the Plow- 
man's Tale being after the Parson's. The 3rd ed. of the Works is about 
1550, says Mr. Bradshaw, by the Booksellers — "Wm. Bonham, E. Kele, 
Petit, or Toy — and the Plowman's Tale is before the Parson's.] 

(2) Robert le dyabil, due of Norma??die. 

[The prose Life (from the French Romant de Robert le diable) was twice 
printed by Wynkyn de Worde without date: 'the lyfe of the moost 
feerfullest and vnmercyfullest and myscheuous Robert y* deuyll, whiche 
was afterwarde called the seruant of our lorde Jh.esu cryste.' A copy of 
one edition is in the British Museimi, C. 21. c. ; and another is in the 
Cambr. Univ. Library. Mr. Thoms reprinted this in vol. i. of his Early 
Popular Romances, 1828, and says it is taken direct from the French, and 
is not a reduction of the English verse text. 

Of the verse Life, which, says Mr. Hazlitt, ' follows in general the prose 
narrative, but exhibits occasional amplifications,' 'a fragment printed 
with the types of Wynken de Worde or Pynson is in the Bodleian 
Library.' The verse romance was reprinted for J. Herbert in 1798, 8vo, 
from a MS " which appears to have been transcribed word for word " 
{Thorns) from the old printed edition, and has been again reprinted in 
Mr. Hazlitt's Remains of the Early Pojmlar Poetry of England, i. 217-263 : 
see also p. 264-9. As the verse text teUs the same story as the prose one, 
I use it for the following sketch. 

A good Duke of Normandy, to please his lords, weds the daughter of 
the Earl of Burgundy, but for 12 years has no child by her. For this 
they grieve greatly, and often pray for a child. At last the Duchess 
becomes convinced that God will not hear their petition, and so, on the 
night that she conceives, she prays to the Devil to send them a child, and 
vows she Moll give it, soul and body, to the Devil. Accordingly, a boy ia 
bom, and a terrible storm follows. The boy is very big ; his teeth grow 
fast, and he bites his nurse's nipples ofl'. He grows ; bites other childi'en, 
puts their eyes out, breaks their legs and arms ; they call him " Roberte 
the Deuylle." At seven years old, he thrusts a dagger into his teacher's 
belly, for correcting him ; he mocks priests, scorns clerks, and hurts men 



" The Complaynt-of Scotland" tales. cxxxix 

at their prayers. When he is older, his Father makes him a knight, that 
his vows may improve him ; but he grows worse ; at jousts, he kills 
knights, breaks horses' backs, and strikes down old and young. Then 
he makes a raid into the country, robs and kills, ravishes maidens and 
wives, pulls down abbeys, slays young children. His father sends men 
to take him; he puts out their eyes. When more men are sent, he 
gathers a band of thieves, kills men, spoils crops, eats flesh on Fridays, 
and cuts off 7 Hermits' heads. Wherever he goes, all people flee from 
him. This, at last, makes him repent; he begs his fleeing mother to 
stay, to tell him how he was born ; and then he vows that he'll amend 
and go to Kome. He returns to his band of thieves, and exhorts them to 
repent too ; but they mock him and refuse ; so he kills them every one. 
Then he rides to an Abbey, prays for God's forgiveness, and sends the 
key of his treasure to his father, to make restitution for his robberies and 
sins. He then goes to Eome, prays the Pope's pardon, and confesses his 
sins to him. The Pope send? Kobert to a hermit near, who has a revela- 
tion that Robert must counterfeit a fool, act like one, pull his food from 
a dog, sleep with dogs, and be dumb. All this, Robert does ; acts the 
fool at the Emperor of Rome's court, gnaws one end of a bone while a 
dog gnaws the other, shares a loaf with the dog, and sleeps on straw with 
it. But soon the Seneschall of the Saracens invades Rome to win the 
Emperor's deaf and dumb daughter. The infidels are winning, when an 
Angel gives Robert a white steed and armour, and he soon routs the 
Saracens. He rides oflF, and his horse and armour vanish. All this, the 
Princess sees. Robert comes again as a fool to the Court ; and when the 
Emperor asks who the White Knight is, the Princess always points to 
the Fool, for which her father abuses her. Again the Saracens invade 
Rome, and again Robert, armed by the Angel, routs the foe and disap- 
pears. On the second day of the fight, 6 knights sent by the Emperor, 
try to discover Robert, and one wounds him in the thigh. The Emperor 
thereupon promises his daughter to the wounded knight. On this, the 
Saracen Seneschall wounds himself, personates Robert, claims the Prin- 
cess, and is about to wed her, when she, by miracle, speaks, and exposes 
him. Robert is then foimd among the dogs, and will not speak till the 
Hermit tells him his sins are forgiven. He then weds the Princess, comes 
to Normandy, and is loved. The Seneschall invades and slays the Em- 
peror, for which Robert kills him ; and then comes home again, fears 
God, has a son (who is one of Charlemagne's knights), dies, and goes to 
heaven. 

Nowe, all men beare these in remembraunce : 

'He that lyueth well here, no euyll death shall dye.' 
Yonge and olde, that delyteth to reade in storye, 

Yt shall youe styrre to uertuous lyuynge, 

And cause some to haue theyr memorye 

Of the paynes of hell, that ys euer durynge. 

By readynge bookes, men knowe all thynge 

That euer was done, and hereafter shalbe. 

Idlenes, to myschief many a one doth brynge. . . . 

The original of Robert the Devil was Robert, father of William the 
Conqueror, and sixth Duke of Normandy. Part of the legends about 
him have been transferred to a different person, Robert, Eong of Sicily 
(and Jerusalem,) Duke of Apulia etc., who tried to make peace between 
Edward III and the French king, and whom Froissart and others tell us 
of. The Romance of Sir Gowghter in the Royal MS 17, printed by 
TJtterson in his Select Pieces of Early Popular Poetry, 1817, 8vo, vol. i, is 
in character 'substantially identical with Robert the Devil, the names, 



cxl ".The Complaynt-of-Scotland" tales. 

localities, and other adventitious features only being changed.' 'Sir 
Frederic Madden pointed out, in his edition of the Old English versions of 
the Gesta Romanorum, 1838, 4", that the foundation story of ' Robert the 
Devil ' and ' Robert of Sicily ' is the tale of Jovinianiis, which is told at 
considerable length both in the English and Latin Gesta.' (Hazlitt, E. 
Pop. Poetnj, i. 268.)] 

(3) The tayl of the volfe of the varldis end. 

[ Volfe should be voile, says Mr. J. A. H. Murray^, and that means ivell. 
If so, Robert Chambers, in his Popular Rhymes of Scotland, 1870, tells at 
p. 105-7 a fairy tale of " The Wal at the Warld's End {Fife);' whither a 
nasty queen with a nastier daughter, sends the nice daughter of a king, 
to fill a bottle with water. The nice daughter comes back ten times 
nicer, and marries a bonnie young prince ; but the nasty daughter, when 
sent, comes back ten times nastier, and marries a cobbler, who licks her 
every day with a leather strap.] 

(4) Ferrand, erl of Flandris, that niareit the deuyl. 

[The story is probably the same which is related by Gervase of Tilbury, 
"de Domina castri de EsperveP," and by Bournaker, of the ancestor of 
the Plantagenet family^. Lci/den, p. 237. Barbour mentions Earl Fer- 
rand's mother in The Bruce, book iv, 1. 241 etc., p. 85, ed. Skcat: 

The erll ferrandis moder was 
Ane nygramansour, and sathanas 
Scho rasit, and him askit syne, 
Quhat suld worth of the fichtyne 
Betuix the franch kyng and hir sone. 

The devil gave an ambiguous answer ; and the outcome was that the Earl 

. . discumfit wes, & schent, (1. 280) 
And takyn, and to paris sent.] 

(5) The taiyl of the reyde eyttyn vitht the thre heydis. 

[A. S. Eoten, a giant. ' Sir David Lindsay relates, in the prologue to his 
Dreme, that he was accustomed, during the minority of James V, to lull 
him asleep with ' talcs of the rcd-etin and the gyre carlin.' Leijden, p. 319. 
See the Early English Text Society's ed. of Lyndesay, p. 264, 1. 45. 
As Lyndesay mentions several of the stories named in the Complaynt, it 
may be as well to quote his lines here : — 

More plesandlie the tyme for tyll ouerdryue, 32 

I haue, at lenth, the storeis done discryue 
Oif Hectour, Arthour, and gentyll lulyus, 
Oif Alexander, and worthy Pompeyus, 

Off lasone and Media, all at lenth, 36 

Off Hercules the actis honorabyll, 

And of Sampsone the supernaturall strenth, 

And of leill Luffaris storeis amiabyll ; 

And oft tymes haue I fein^eit mony fabyll, — 40 

^ Volfe should undoubtedly be 'voile' or 'velle.' The South-Scotch pro- 
nunciation of well is woll or wuU, and a place near Ashkirk written Well is 
always called Woll. I am going to print voile, in my edition of the Covi- 
pleynt, having no doubt as to it. Wolf is before given as voff, modern woiif. — 
J. A. H. M. 

2 (!)tia Imperialia, ap. Script. Rer. Brunsvic. vol. i, p. 978. 

3 Eorduni Scotichron. a Goodall, vol. 2, p. 9. 



*' The Complaynt-of-Scotland'^ tales. cxli 

Off Troylus the sorrow and the loye, 
And Seigis all, of Tyir, Thebes, and Troye. 

The Prophiseis of Rymour, Beid, & Marlyxg, 
And of mony vther plesand storye, — 44 

OS the reid Etin, and the gyir carlyng, — 
Comfortand the, quhen that I saw the sorye. 

Robert Chambers, in his Popular Rhymes of Scotland, 1870, p. 89-94, prints 
'from Mr. Buchan's curious manuscript collection' — an untrustworthy 
source, I assume — a fairy tale of the Red Etin of Ireland, a three-headed 
giant, who is killed by a poor widow's son who answers his three 
questions, "Whether Ireland or Scotland was iirst inhabited? Whether 
man was made for woman, or woman for man ? Whether men or brutes 
were made first ?" The young man frees the giant's prisoners, and among 
them a king's daughter, whom he marries.] 

(6) The tail quhou perseua sauit andromada fra the cruel morestir. 

\_Ovid's Metamorphoses, iv. 663 etc. This and the other classical stories 
were probabty only short tales from some translation of Ovid, and, most 
likely, not printed ones.] 

(7) The prophysie of merlyne. 

[See the Lyndesay extract above, 1. 43. Editions by Wynkyn de Worde 
in 1510 and 1529 are known, and Warton says there was an edition by John 
Hawkins in 1533. ' Here begjTineth a Lytel Treatyse of the Byrth and 
Prophecy e of Marlyn.' Colophon : ' Here endeth a lytell treatyse of Mar- 
lyn, whiche prophesyed of many fortunes or happes here in Englande. 
EnprjTited in London in fletestrete at the sygne of the sonne by Wynkyn 
de Worde the yere of our lorde a M CCCCC and X.' 4to, 44 leaves. 
(Hazlitt.) 'This poetical romance,' says Lowndes, 'differs in many 
respects from the MS. copies. See Brydges's Censura Literaria.' After 
the date of the Complaynt we have a book which perhaps contains some 
Prophecies made before that date: "The Whole Prophesie of Scotland, 
England, & some part of France, and Denmark, Prophesied bee meruellous 
Merling, Beid, Bertlingtoun, Thomas Rymour, Waldhaue, Eltraine, 
Banester, and Sibbilla, all according in one. Containing many strange 
and meruelous things. Printed by Robert Waldegraue, Printer to the 
Kings most Excellent Majestic. Anno. 1603." And reprinted for the 
Bannatyne Club in 1833. The Prophesies of 'Merling' are on pages 
3-9, 12-14 of the reprint; and another version of parts of the second of 
these was printed by Mr. Lumby for the Early English Text Society, in 
Bernardus de Cura Rci familiaris etc. 1870, p. 18-22 : see Preface, p. ix.] 

(8) The tayl of the giantis that eit quyk men. 

[Probably some version of Jack the Giant-killer, or Jack and the Bean- 
stalk, many varieties of which used to thrill me when a boy, when, after 
darkness had put an end to "Kings, Covenanters!" "Duck," or "Hy- 
Spy," we used to gather into an entry to "tell boglie tales," tiU our hair 
stood on end, and we were too frightened to separate to go home. — J. A. 
H. Murray.] 

(9) On fut, by fortht, as i culd found. 

[That is, ' On foot, by Forth, as I did go.' A ballad not now known.] 

(10) Vallaee. 

[Of the only edition known before 1548, a fragment of 20 leaves only 
has been preserved. It appears to be printed with Chepman and Myllar's 
peculiar types, and is supposed to be about 1520 a.d. It is translated 



cxlii " The Complaynt-of-Scotland" tales. 

from the Latin of Eobert Blair, written in the heginning of the 14th cen- 
tury {Sazlitt's Handbook). Many later editions exist. The best is from 
the unique MS in the Advocates' Library, dated 1488, edited by Dr. 
Jamieson in 1820, and reprinted at Glasgow in 1869, with all its mistakes. 
The translator is said to have been Blind Harry the Minstrel, about 1470.] 

(11) Thebruce. 

[By Chaucer's contemporary, John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, 
who died in 1395 or 1396. No printed edition before about 1570 is now 
known. Only 2 MSS of the poem are known, of which the best, which 
has lost its first third, is in the Library of St. John's College, Cambridge, 
and is dated 1487. The inferior MS is in the Advocates' Library, Edin- 
burgh, is complete, is dated 1489, was edited by Dr. Jamieson in 1820, 
and reprinted at Glasgow, with all its mistakes, in 1869. The Rev. W. W. 
Skeat is now re-editing the work from both MSS and the old printed 
editions for the Early English Text Society's Extra Series : Part I. was 
publisht in 1870. Mr. Cosmo Innes made a dreadful mess of the text, 
which he symmetrized, in his edition for the Spalding Club, 1856. Mr. 
Henry Bradshaw, University Librarian at Cambridge, has found two 
MSS containing parts of a verse Troy Book by Barbour, and another 
very long MS of Saints' Lives in verse, also by Barbour.] 

(12) Tpomedon. 

[' The Life of Ipomydon.' Colophon : ' Enprjoited at London in the 
Fletestrete at the sygne of the Sonne by Wynkyn de Worde ;' no date, 
4to, but with " L'enuoye of Robert C[opland] the prynter." Only one 
incomplete copy known. This romance was printed by Weber in his 
Metrical Romances, 1810, a^oI. ii. p. 279, from the Harl. MS. 2252 ; and 
the story of it is told in EUis's Early English Metr. Rom. p. 505 etc., ed. 
Bohn. "The hero of this romance is a Norman, though his name be 
derived from the Theban war. He is son of Ermones, King of Apulia, 
and, by his courtesy and skill in hunting, gains the afi"ections of the 
heiress of Calabria, whom he visits in disguise." {Leyden, p. 240.)] 

(13) The tail of the thre futtit dog of norrouay. 

[Robert Chambers gives the story of ' The Black Bull of Norroway ' 
in his Popular Rhymes, p. 95-99, and that of the similar 'Red Bull of 
Norroway' at p. 99-101.] 

(14) The tayl quhou Hercules sleu the serpent hidra that hed vij 

heydis, 

[This was doubtless a short story from Ovid's Metamorphoses, vs.. 70. 

The earliest known English Romance on Hercules is late: "The 
History of the Life and Glorious Actions of the mighty Hercules of Greece, 
his encountering and overthrowing serpents, hons, monsters, giants, 
tyrants, and powerful armies; his taking of cities, towns, kings, and 
langdoms, etc. With many rare and extraordinary adventures and 
exploits, wonderful and amazing. Also the manner of his unfortunate 
death : being the most excellent of histories. Printed for S. Bates at the 
Sun and Bible in Pye-Comer." Small 4to, no date. One copy is among 
Malone's books in the Bodleian, and another was sold at Mr. Corser's 
second sale {Catalogue, p. 55), where was also sold "Hercules. Sensuyt 
les proesses et vaillances du preux et vaillant Hercules. Bk. 1., small 4to. 
Paris, par Alain Lotrian. s.d."] 

(15) The tail quhou the kyng of est mure land mareit the kyngis 

dochtir of vest mure land. 
[Can this be "King Estmere" in Percy's Reliques? Percy tore this 



"The Complaynt-of- Scotland" tales. cxliii 

ballad out of his Folio Manuscript— confound him for it! — so that we 
cannot tell how hadly he cookt the copy he has left us. See the Feroj 
Folio Ballads and Romances, vol. ii, p. 200, note 1 ; p. 600-7.] 

(16) Skail gillenderson, the kyngis sone of skellye. 

[Some Scandinavian legend.] 

(17) The tayl of the four sonnis of aymon. 
[Capt. Cox, III, p. xix, above.] 

(18) The tayl of the brig of the mantribil, 

[No doubt a lost English Charlemagne romance, for in Barbour's 
Bruce, it is said that Charlemagne 

"... wan Mantrybill, and passed Flagot." 

Ed. Pinkerton, i, 81 {Leyden, p. 237).] 

(19) The tail of syr euan, arthours knycht. 

[No separate printed tale of Sir Ywain is known except the poem of 
'Ywaine and Gawin,' printed by Ritson in his Metrical Romances from 
the Cotton MS. Galba E ix. Leyden says, p. 256, "in Peringskiold's list 
of Scandic MSS in the Royal library of Stockholm, besides a metrical 
history of king Arthur, which records his league with Charlemagne, the 
following titles occur: Sagan af Ivent, Eingland Kappe ; — the history of 
Ewain, Arthurs best beloved knight in England, containing his combats 
with the Giants and Blacks. This is undoubtedly the romance of Ewain 
mentioned in the Complaynt. — Sagan af Serra Bewus, the Romance of Sir 
Bevis."] 

(20) Eauf collf ear. 

[Dunbar, in his address ' To the King,' and Gawin Douglas, in his 
' Palice of Honour,' mention this poem of Ralph the Collier, though no 
printed edition of it is known before that ' Imprentit at Sanct Androis 
by Robert Lekpreuik, anno 1572,' which Mr. David Laing reprinted in 
his Select Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of Scotland, 1822: "Heire 
beginnis the taill of Rauf CoUjear, how he harbreit King Charhs." See 
Irving's History of Scotish Poetry, p. 88-92. A capital poem it is, that 
ought to be known better in England. It is the Scotch parallel of John the 
Reve in the Percy Folio, (with which Dunbar and Douglas couple it,) and 
is told in humoui-ous alliterative stanzas; only, the Collier treated 
Charlemagne more roughly than the Reve treated Edward Longshanks, 
for he 

. . hit him vnder the eir with his richt hand 

Quhill he stakkerit thatr-with-all 

Half the breid of the haU. 

Mr. Laing has kept us waiting a most tantalizingly long time for a new 
edition of his excellent Select Remains. The volume contains several 
English pieces.] 

(21) The seige of millan. 

[Milan has seen many a siege since, at the end of the third century, 
Maximianus surrounded it with walls. Attila devastated it ; so did the 
Goths ia 539 a.d. under Vitiges. Frederic Barbarossa and his Germans 
took it by assault, and razed it to the ground in 1 162. In the petty wars 
of the Italian cities in the 13th and later centuries, Milan took a pro- 
minent part. But I suppose the Co^nplaynt tale to refer to the great 
Barbarossa siege.] 



cxliv ''The Complaynt-of- Scotland" tales. 

(22) Grauen and gollogras. 

[Cp. Capt. Cox's Sijr Gmvyn, XII, p. xxxiv above.] 

(23) Lancelot du lac. 

[No early printed English Lancelot is known ; and we have only one 
MS, a Scotch, one at Cambridge, in the University Library,- carelessly 
printed by Mr. Stevenson for the Maitland Club, 1839 {Lancelot of the 
Laik), and carefully edited for the Early English Text Society, 1865, by 
the Rev. W. W. Skeat. It is short, and contains only a small part of the 
French Lancelot.'] 

(2'i) Arthour knycht, he raid on nyeht, 
vitht gyltin spur and candil lycht, 

[Leyden says, p. 229, " The romance, of which these lines seem to have 
formed the introduction, is unknown; but I have often heard them 
repeated in a nursery tale, of which I only recollect the following ridicu- 
lous verses : 

Chick my naggie, chick my naggie ! 
How mony miles to Aberdeagie ? 
'Tis eight, and eight, and other eight ; 
"We'll no win there wi' candle light." 

I don't believe in Leyden's supposed "romance." It was probably a 
ballad.] 

(25) The tail of floremond of albauye, that sleu the Avagon be the 

see. 
[This Tale is lost. Leyden says (p. 229) that the name of the hero is 
mentioned in the romance of Rosivall and Lilian (Ediab. 1663, blk. Ir., 
846 lines; and Laing's Larlij Metrical Tales, 1826) : — 

Because that I love you so well, 
■ Let your name be Sir Lion dale, 
Or great Florent of Albanie, 
My heart, if ye bear love to me ; 
Or call you Lancelot du Lake, 
For your dearest true-love's sake ; 
Call you the KJnight of arm[e]s green*, 
For the love of j^our Lady sheen.] 

(26) The tail of syr valtir, the bald leslye. 

[Leyden says (p. 230) "This seems to have been a romance of the 
Crusades. Sir Walter Lesly accompanied his brother Norman to the 
East, in the Venetian expedition, to assist Peter, kiag of Cyprus ; where, 
according to Fordun {Scotichronicon, lib. xvi, cap. 15) ' coeperunt civitatem 
Alexandrinam tempore tdtimi regis David.' After the death of his 
brother he became Earl of Ross, and Duke of Leygaroch in France. The 
romance," if one ever existed, is lost.] 

(27) The tail of the pure tynt. 

[" Probably the groimdwork of the Fairy tale of 'the pure tint Rashy- 
coat' a common nursery tale." Leyden, p. 236. The tale of 'Rashie-Coat 
{Fife) ' is told in R. Chambers's Popular Rhymes, 1870, p. 66-8, and an 
inferior version follows it. It is "the Scottish edition of the tale of 
Cinderella."] 

* Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Roxb. Club, and E. E. Text Soc). 



" I'he Complaynt-of -Scotland" tales. cxlv 

(28) Claryades and maliadea. 

[No printed copy is known earlier than 1830, when Dr. David Irving 
edited the romance of Clariodus from an imperfect MS of about 1550 a.d, 
for Mr. Edward Piper's present to the Maitland Club. The romance is 
earlier than its MS, and is translated from a French prose original, of 
which there was once an English translation, made before the Scotch one. 
The story is of England : — how, after the days of King Arthur, the young 
knight Clariodus, son of the Earl of Esture, or the Asturias, wins and 
weds the lovely lady Meliades, daughter and heiress of Philipon, king of 
England ; and how, after their marriage (at p. 304) feastings, adventures, 
tourneys, journeys to Castalie, Ireland &o go on, till the text ends, im- 
perfectly, at p. 376 of the printed edition.] 

(29) Arthour of litil bertang^e. 

[This is the book reprinted in 4to by Utterson in 1814 as "Arthur of 
Brytayn. The hystory' of the moost^ noble and valyaunt knyght Ai-thur 
of lytell brytajrne, translated out of frensshe in to engiushe^ by the noble 
Johan Bourghcher knyght lorde Barners, newly Imprynted:" no date, 
black letter, folio, 179 leaves. (Collier, Bibl. Cat. i. 63). Colophon: 
" Here endeth the hystory of Arthur of lytell Brytayne. Imprynted at 
London in Bowles churche yeard at the sygne of the Cocke by Roberto 
Eedborne." Only 2 perfect copies exist, at Althorp and Bridgewater 
House ; and one imperfect copy.] 

(30) Eobene hude and litil ihone. 

[See Capt. Cox's Robiii Hood, XXII, p. li, above. It's the same book, 
no doubt.] 

(31) The meruellis of maTzdiueil. 

[We know 3 editions before 1548 of this most amusing book of travels 
and legends, 1. Wynkyn de Worde's in 1499 ; 2. at his sign of the Sun 
in 1503; 3. Pynson's, without date. 1. "Here Begynneth a lytell 
treatyse or booke named Johan Mandeuyll Knyght born in Englonde in 
the towne of saynt Albone and speketh of the wayes of the holy londe 
toward Jherrusalem, and of marunyles of Ynde and of other dyuerse 
cou«trees." Colophon. "Here endeth the boke of Johan Mau7?devyll 
knyght, of the wayes towarde Jerusalem, & of the meruayles of Ynde & 
of other dyuerse couwtrees. Emprynted at Westmynster by Wynken de 
Worde. Anno Aomini M. CCCC. LXXXXIX." 8vo. An edition was 
publisht in 1725 from the Cotton MS, Titus C. xvi, — incorrectly, I expect 
— and was reprinted in 1839 and 1869, with an Introduction by Mr. 
Halliwell, and some very quaint woodcuts from the MS and the old 
printed editions. Sir John Mandeville left England for Jerusalem etc. 
in 1322, and wrote his Travels in 1356, thirty-four years after he started. 
Later on, the_ work was turned into a chap-book : " The Foreign Travels 
of Sir John llandeville. Containing, An Account of remote Kingdoms, 
Countries, Rivers, Castles, &c. Together with a Description of Giants, 
Pigmies, and various other People of odd Deformities ; as also their Laws, 
Customs, and Manners. Likewise enchanted Wildernesses, Dragons, 
Griffins, and many more wonderful Beasts of Prey, &c &c &c." (With 7 
woodcuts.) ' Printed and Sold in Aldermary Church- Yard, London. (In 
Mr. Corser's sale.)] 

(32) (33) The tayl of the Jowg tanilene, and of the bald brabaud. 
[Leyden identifies Tamlene with the later ballad of The Young Tamlane 

in Scott's Minstrelsy, a.d. 1802, (p. 474-480 of A. Murray's reprint, 
1869), a few verses of which appeared in Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776, 

' Mystory — Eazlitt's Handbook. ^ moast — Hazlitt. ^ englishe — Hazlitt. 

I 



cxlvi "The Complaynt-of -Scotland" tales. 

i. 159 (ed. 1869), as 'Kertoiihe, or the Fairy Court,' and Johnson's 
Museum. (See p. clxiv below.) He therefore makes The Bald Braband a 
separate romance of French or Norman origin. Mr. J. A. H. Murray- 
does so too, notwithstanding the author's singular "tayl," which would 
lead us to suppose that the two heroes belonged to one story. See some 
doggrel verses on 'Tam o' the Linn' in E. Chambers's Popular Ehymes, 
ed. 1870, p. 33, and p. cxxvii above.] 

(34) The ryngi of the roy Eobert. 

[In Mackenzie's Lives, vol. i, and Pinkerton's list of the poems in the 
FoKo Maitland MS, this poem is ascribed to Deine David Steill. It begins 
" In to the ring of the roy Robert." A modernized copy was issued in 
1700 under the title of " Robert the III, king of Scotland, his Answer to 
a Summonds sent by Henry the IV. of England to do homage for the 
Crown of Scotland," is [re]printed in "Watson's Collection of Scotish 
poems, pt. 3, which begins " Dureing the reigne of the Royal Robert." 
Ley den, p. 231. It is also reprinted 'in two different publications of Mr. 
Laing, Fugitive Scotish Poetry, and Early Metrical Tales. It contains a 
magnanimous and indignant answer, supposed to have been returned by 
Robert the Third, when Henry the Fourth of England summoned him to 
do homage for his kingdom. The author's patriotism may be more safely 
commended than his poetry, which is of a very inferior order.' Irving' s 
Hist, of Scotish Poetry, p. 201, ed. 1861.] 

(35) Syr egeir and syr gryme. 

[Of this verse Romance no printed copy is known earlier than 1687. 
It belongs to Mr. David Laing, who reprinted the 2nd edition known, 
that of 1711, in his Early Metrical Tales, 1826. By far the best copy^ is 
in Bp. Percy's Folio MS, and is printed in the Ballads and Romances of it, 
i. 354-400, in 1474 lines. Its " subject is the true and tried friendship of 
Sir Eger and Sir Grime. It sings how a true knight (Sir Grime) stood 
faithfully by his friend when misfortune overtook him, and fought his 
battle, and won it, and was rewarded with the same happiness which he 
had so nobly striven to secure for his friend — success in love." In 1497, 
the sum of nine shilhngs was paid to " twa fithelaris that sang Gray Steil 
to the King." See Mr. D. Laing's Introduction, and Mr. Hales's in the 
Percy Folio Bal. and Rom. Gray Steel was the knight who overcame Sir 

^ reign. 

2 However, the lines praised so strongly by Prof. Lowell in his charming 
essay in My Study Windotvs, p. 256-7, are not in the Percy-Folio copy. The 
author of the inimitable Bigloiv Papers says : " One more passage occurs to me, 
almost incomparable in its simple straight-forward force, and choice of the 
right words : — 

" Sir Graysteel to his death thus thi-aws, 

He welters, and the grass updraws 

A little whale then lay he still, 
(Friends that saw him, liked full ill,) 
And bled into his armour bright.'" 

The last line, for suggestive reticence, almost deserves to be put beside the 
famous 

" Quel giorno piti non vi leggemmo avante " 

of the great master of laconic narration [Dante]. In the same poem" — Sir 
j^ger and Sir Grime in the Percy Folio i. 354. The passage quoted is from 
EUis — " the growing love of the lady, in its maidenliness of unconscious be- 
trayal, is touched with a delicacy and tact as surprising as they are delightful." 



" The Complaynt-of Scotland'' tales. cxlvii 

Eger, and who cut off the right little-finger of every knight he vanquisht. 
But Grime slew him. for Eger's sake.] 

(36) Beuis of southamtonn. 

[See Captain Cox's IV, p. xxii ahove.] 

(37) The- goldin targe. 

[This is a poem of Dunhar's, first printed on 6 leaves by "Walter Chep- 
man and Andro Millar at Edinburgh in 1508, though the copy in the 
Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, has no place or date on it. It is reprinted 
in Mr. David Laing's edition of Dunbar's Works 1834 (with a Supple- 
ment 1865), i. 11, and "the object of this poem is to demonstrate the 
general ascendency of love over reason : the golden terge, or the shield of 
reason, is found an insufficient protection against the assaults of the train 
of love." Irving' s Mist, of Scotish Poetry^ p. 235, ed. 1861.] 

(:58) The paleis of honour. 

[No copy of this is known so early as 1548-9, though a Scotch printer's 
copy must have existed earlier. As William Copland was at the Kose 
G-arland in 1548, his imdated edition might have been printed in the first 
year of Mary's reign: "The Palis of Honoui-e composed by Gawyne 
Dowglas, Byshope of Dunkyll. Imprinted at London in flet-stret, at the 
sygne of the Rose garland by wyllyam Copland. God saue Quene 
Marye," 4to, black letter, 40 leaves. Henrie Charteris's edition of 1579 
was reprinted for the Bannatyne Club in 1827, 4to. The poem, which is 
the longest of Douglas's original works, seems to have been written in 
1501, and describes the author's dream of all the worthies of antiquity 
down to nearly his own day,— heathen gods and goddesses, as well as 
Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate, — journeying to the Palace of Honour. 
This he describes, nnd the lake, wherein those who fail to seek it, fall. 
The poem is an odd mixture of ancient and modern : Calliope expounds 
the scheme of human redemption. See Irving, p. 269-277, for an outline 
of it.] 

(39) The tayl quhou acteon vas trawsformit in ane hart, and syne 

slane be his auen doggis. 
[Another tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses, iii. 155 etc.] 

(40) The tayl of Pirramus and tesbe. 

[No doubt a short tale from some lost translation of Ovid {Met. iv, 
55-165). Golding's translation was not publisht till 1567. Mr. Halliwell 
prints the Pyramus story from it in his Introduction to Shakespeare s Mid- 
summer Nighfs Dream, 1841, p. 12-16. The first notice that we have of 
a book on this subject is in an entry in 1562-3 in the Stationers' Register A, 
leaf 92 {Collier, i. 79) :— 

W greffethe Kecevyd of Wylliam greffeth for his lycense for \ ....^ 
pryntinge of a boke intituled Perymus and Thesbye j J 

No copy of the book is known, nor a,ny of the later edition by Hacket. 
Mr. Collier says ' The History of Pyramus and Thisbie, truly translated,' 
is contained in the 'Gorgeous Gallery of gallant Inventions,' 1578; and 
in the ' HandfuU of Pleasant Delights,' 1584, is ' a new Sonet of Pyramus 
and Thisbie,' subscribed J. Tomson. {Stat. Meg. i. 80.) 

(41) The tail of the amours of leander and hero. 

[The only notice we have of the earliest and otherwise unknown trans- 
lation of the work of Musseus the Grammarian, Be Amore Herois et Leandri, 
is a marginal note in Abraham Fleming's translation of Virgil's Georgics, 
1589, 4to: "The poet alludeth to the historic of Leander and Hero, 

Z2 



cxlviii " The Complaynt-of- Scotland" tales. 

written by Musseus, and Englished by me a dozen yeares ago [1577], 
and in print." J. P. Collier, in Notes and Queries, Dec. 8, 1849, p. 84-5. 
This 'tayl' of the Comj^laynt before 1548 may — like many others in the 
list — have been a broadside. Ovid mentions the story, Her. xviii. 19.] 

(42) The tail quhou lupiter transformit his deir loue yo in ane 

cou. 

[More Ovid : Metamorphoses, bk. i.] 

(43) The tail quhou that iason vau the goldin fleice. 

[This may be ' A Boke of the hoole Lyf of Jason ' printed by Caxton 
about 1477, consisting of 148 leaves, and reprinted in 1492, by Gerard 
Leeu of Antwerp, with cuts, ' The veray trew History of the valiauwt 
Knight Jaso>« ;' but was probably only a short Tale from the 7th book of 
Ovid's Metamorphoses. Caxton' s edition is translated fi-om Raoul Le 
Fevre's French original.] 

(44) Opheus, kyng of portingal. 

[This cannot be the romance of Orfeo and Heurodis in the Affleck MS, 
printed in Mr. D. Laing's Select Remains, 1822, in which Orfeo is a king 
in England, has the city of Traciens or Winchester, and recovers Heurodis 
who has been carried oif by the King of the Fairies. Nor can it be 
Henryson's poem printed by W. Chepman and A. Millar in 1508 : — 
" Heire begynnis the traitie of Orpheus kyng, and how he yeid to hewyn 
and to hel to seik his queue : And ane other ballad in the lattir end ; — " 
and repi'inted in Mr. David Laing's edition of Henryson's Works, 1865. 
Henryson rightly makes his Orpheus, king of Thrace. Perchance some 
Middle-age writer altered Thrace to Portugal. Geography was 'of no 
consequence ' with the story-tellers of those days.] 

(45) The tayl of the goldin appil, 

[That of Eris, inscribed ' to the fairest,' thrown among the Gods at the 
wedding of Peleus and Thetis, whence sprang the dispute between Juno, 
Minerva, and Venus, its decision by Paris, the rape of Helen, and the fall 
of Troy, that central romance of the Middle-ages. Plenty of stories of 
it, — long to shorten, short to translate, — were there to serve as the original 
of the Coniplaynt 'tayl.'] 

(46) The tail of the thre veird sy stirs. 

[' Clotho, the spinning fate ; Lachesis, the one who assigns to man his 
fate ; and Atropos, the fate that cannot be avoided.' Ovid, 3Iet. xv. 781, 
808 etc.] 

(47) The tayl quhou that dedalus maid the laborynth to keip the 

ino«ster minotaurus. 
[Ovid, Met. viii.] 

(48) The tail quhou kyng midas gat tua asse luggis on his hede, 

be cause of his auereis. 
[Another story from Ovid, book xi of the Metamorphoses. There is a 
Ballad on the same subject among the broadsides of the Society of Anti- 
quaries, written by T. Hedley, and imprinted at London, by Hary Sutton, 
dwellyng in Poules Churchj^ard, and reprinted in Mr. Halliwell's Litro- 
duetion to Shakespeare's Midsicmmer Night's Dream, p. 18-19. Sutton 
printed and publisht from 1557 to 1575.] 

^ Quhen thir scheiphyrdis lied tald al thyr pleysand storeis, 
tlian thay and ther vyuis began to sing sueit melodius sangis of 
natural music of the antiquite, the foure marmadyns that sang 



" The Complaynt-of -Scotland " sweet Songs. cxlix 



qulieu thetis vas mareit on month pilliow, thai sang nocht sa sueit 
as did thir scheiphyrdis, quhilkis ar callit to name, parthenopie, 
leucolia, illigeatempora, the feyrd callit legia, for thir scheiphirdis 
excedit al thir foure marmadyns in melodius music, in gude ac- 
cordis and reportis of dyapason prolations, and dyatesseron. the 
musician amphion quhilk sa«g sa dulce, quhil that the stanis mouit, 
and alse the scheip and nolt, and the foulis of the ayr, pronuncit 
there bestial voce to sing vitht hym. zit nochtheles his ei'moniws 
sa«g prefferrit nocht the sueit sangis of thir foir-said scheiphirdis. 
Nou i vil reherse sum of the sueit sangis that i herd amang thew 
as eftir follouis. in the lyrst, 

(49) Pastance vitht gude companye. 

[English. Written by Henry VIII. Facsimiled, with the tune, for 
Ml. Wm. Chappell, in ArchcBologia, xli. 372, from a MS that once belonged 
to Henry VIII, and now belongs to a Mrs. Lamb. The song was also 
printed by Dr. Rimbault in his Little Book, p. 37, and Mr. Chappell in 
his Fo2mlar Muxic, from the Additional MS 5665 in the British Museum, 
which was once Joseph Eitson's. It is there called " The Kyngis Balade." 
Here it is from Mrs. Lamb's MS, pages 24, 25, as facsimiled in Arckceo- 
loffia, A'ol. xli, PI. xvi, p. 372 ; but in the MS every U has a Une across 
its top. 

The kynge. H. viij. 



(1) 
PAstyme with good eo;«panye 
I loue, & shall vntyll I dye ; — 
gruche who lust, but none denye, 
so god be plesyd, thus leue wyll I. 
for my pastance 
hunt, syng, & dau;!ce, 

my hart is sett ! 
all goodly sport, 
for my co?wfort, 
who shall me let ? 

(2) 

youthe must haue sum daliance, 
off good or yll, sum pastance ; 
Company me thynkis's then best, 
all thoughts* & fansys to deiest ; 



ffor Idillnes 
is cheif mastres 

of vices all ; 
then who can say 
but mirth and play 

is best of all ? 

(3) 
Company -with honeste 
is vertu, vices to flee ; 
Company is good & ill, 
but euery man hath hys fre wyll ; 
the best ensew, 
the worst eschew, 

my mynde shalbe ; 
vertu to Tse, 
vice to refuce ; 

thus shall I vse me. 



Bishop Latimer, says ]Mr. Chappell, wished to instil into Edward VI a 
higher view of what " Pastyme with good Company " should be than he 
would get from his father's Ballad, and on that account in his Second 
Sermon before the young king, — preacht on Deut. xxii. 18, " And it shall 
be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write 
him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is befoi-e the priests the 
Levites : And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days 
of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God," etc., — says 

" And when the kyng is sette in the seate of hys Kyngedome, what 
shal he do ? shal he daunce, and dally, banket ? hauke and hunte ? No 
forsothe syr. For as Grod set an order in the Kyngs stable as I tolde you 
in my last Sermon, so wyll he appoynte what pastyme a Kynge shall 



cl 



'^ The Complaynt-of -Scotland^' sweet Songs. 



haue. What must he do then? He muste he a studient. He must 
wryte Goddes hoke hym sclfe. Not thynkynge bycause he is a kynge, 
he hath lycence to do what he wyl, as these worldlye flatterers are wont 
to say. Yea, trouble not your selfe sir, ye mai hauke and hunt, and take 
youre pleasure. As for the guydinge of your kyngdome and people, let 
vs alone wyth it. 

"These flattering clawbackes are originall rotes of all mischyue, and 
3'et a Kynge maye take hys pastyme in haukinge or huntynge or such 
lyke pleasures. But he must vse them for recreation when he is wery of 
waighty aflayres, that he mai returne to them the more lustye. and this 
is called ^J««ime tviih <jood companye." (Ed. Arber, p. 64.) 

And again, " So your grace must learne howe to do of Salomon. Ye 
must make youi- petition, now study, nowe praye. They must be yoked 
togither, and thys is called '•pastime wyth good company.' " {lb. p. 70.)] 

(50) The breir byndis me soir. 

(51) Stil vudir the leyuis grene. 

[See (96). In the Maitland MS, and printed by Pinkerton in his Mait- 
land Poems, p. 205. In his notes, p. 424, ri:.l:?rton says "This piece, 
for the age it was written, is almost miraculous. The tender pathos is 
finely recommended by an excellent cadence. An age that produced this, 
might produce almost any perfection in poetry." I wonder what the 
worthy editor's notion of 'quite miraculous' was, though the 'sang' is a 
good one. Mr. Lumby has kindly read this print with the MS ; but the 
initial ' y ' is printed ' th.' 

The Muening Maidin. 



(1) 

Still under the levis grene, 

This hinder day I went alone ; 

I hard ane may fair mwrne and 

meyne ; 
To the King of Ltjif scho maid 

hir mone. 4 

Scho sychit sely soir ; 
Said ' LoKD, I luif thi loir. 
Mair wo droit never woman one. 

langsum lyfe, and thow war gone, 
Than suld I mwrne no moir !' 9 

(2) 
As rid gold-wyir schynit hir hair ; 
And all in grene, the may scho glaid. 
Ane bent bow in hir hand scho bair ; 
Undir hir belt war arrowis braid. 13 

1 foUowit on that fre. 
That semelie wes to se. 

Withe still mwming hir mone scho 

maid. 
That bird undir a bank scho baid. 
And lenit hir to ane tre. 18 

(3) 
Wanweird, scho said : " Quhat have 

I wrocht, 
" That on me kytht kes aU this cair ? 



Trew lufe, so deir I have the 

bocht !— 
Certis, so sail I do na mair. 22 

Sen that I go begyld 
With ane that fay the has syld. — 
That gars me oftsyis syis' full sair ; 
And walk among the holtis hair. 
Within the woddis wyld. 27 

(4) 
" This grit disese for luif I dre — 
Thair is no toung can tell the wo ! — 
I luif the lufe that luifis not me ; 
I may not mend, but mwrning mo. 
Qiihill God send sum remeid, 32 
Throw destany, or deid. 
I am his freind, and he my fo. 
My sweit, allace ! quhy dois he so ? 
I wrocht him never na feid ! 36 

(5) 
" Withoutin feyid I wes his freind 
In word and wark. Grit God it 

wait! 
Quhair he wes placit, thair list I 

leynd, 
Doand him service ayr and lait. 40 
He kepand eftir syne 
Till his honour and myne. 



' for sich, sigh. 



The Cornptaynt-ofScotland ^' sweet Songs. 



cli 



Bot now he gais ane uther gait, 
And hes no e to my estait ; 
Quhilk dois me all this pyne. 45 

(6) 
" It dois me pyne that I may prufe, 
That maks me thus muming mo. 
My lufe, he luifis ane uther lufe ! 
AUace, sweithart ! Q,uhy dois he so ? 
Quhy sould he me forsaik ? 50 

Have mercye on his maik ! 
Thairfoir my hart will hirst in two. 
And thus, walking with da and ro, 
My leif now heir I taik." 54 

(7) 
Than wepit scho, lustie in weyd ; 
And on her wayis can scho went. 
In hy eftir that heynd I jeyd, 
And in my armes could hir hent, 5 8 
And said " Fayr lady, at this tyd, 
A¥ith leif ye man abyde, 
i^jid tell me quho yow hidder sent. 
Or quhy ye heir yom- bow so bent 
To sla our deir of pryd ? 63 

(8) 
" In waithman weyd sen I yow find 
In this wod walkand your alone, 
Your mylk-qhyt handis we sail 

bind 
Quhill that the blude hirst fra the 

bone. 67 

Chargcand yow to prwsoun. 
To the king's deip dwngeoun. 
Thai may ken, be your fedderit 

flane, 
Ye have moi^y beistis bane 
Upon thir bentis broun." 72 

(9) 
That fre answerit with fayr afeir, 
And said, " Schir, mercy, for your 

mycht ! 
Thus man I bow and arrowis beir, 
Becaus I am ane baneist wycht ; 76 
So will I be full lang. 
For Godis luif lat me gang ; 
And heir to yow my treuth I plj-cht, 
That I saU, nowder daj- nor nycht. 
No wyld beist wait with wrang. 8i 

(10) 

" Thocht I walk in this forrest fre. 
Withe bow, and eik with fedderit 
flane, 



It is weill mair than dayis thro, 
And meit or drynk yit saw I nane. 
Thocht I had never sic neid 86 

My selffe to wjti my breid, 
Your deir may walk, schir, thair 

alane. 
Yet wes I nevir na beistis bane ; 
I may not se thame bleid. 90 

(11) 
" Sen that I never did yow ill, 
It wer no skill ye did me skaith. 
Your deir may walk quhairevir thai 

will ; 
I wyn my meit with na sic waitho. 
I do bot litill wrang, 95 

Bot gif I flowris fang. 
Giff that ye trow not in my aythe, 
Tak heir my bow and arrowis 

baj-the. 
And lat my awin selffe gang. 99 

(12) 
"I say your bow and arrowis 

bricht ! — 
I bid not have thame, be Sanct 

Bryd. 
Bot ye man rest with me all nycht. 
All nakit sleipand be my syd." 103 
" I will not do that syn !" 
" Leif yow this warld to wyn ! 
Ye ar so haill of hew and hyd, 
Luif hes me fangit into this tyd ; 
I may not fra yow tvvyn." 108 

(13) [p. 203.] 

Than lukit scho to me, and lewch ; 
And said " Sic lufe I rid yow layne. 
Albeit ye mak it never sa tewch. 
To me your labour is in vane. 112 
Wer I out of your sycht 
The space of halfe a nycht, 
Suppois ye saw me never agane — 
Luif hes yow streinyeit with litle 

pane, 
Thairto my treuthe I plycht." 117 

(14) 
I said, " My sweit, forsuythe I sail 
For ever luif yow, and no mo. 
Thocht utheris luif, and leif, with 

aU, 
Maist certanlie I do not so. 122 
I do yow trew luif hecht, 
Be all the bewis bricht ! 
Ye ar so fair ! be not my fo ! 
Ye sail have syn, and ye me slo 
Thus throw ane suddan sycht." 126 



clii 



The ^omplaynt-of- Scotland" sweet So7igs. 



(15) 
"That I yow sla, tliat God for- 

scheild ! 
Quhat have I done, or said, yow 

tm ? 

I wes not wont wappynis to weild ; 

Bot am ane woman, gif ye will, 130 

That suirlie feiris yow, 

And ye not me, I trow. 

For, gude schii-, tak in none ill. 

Sail never berne gar breif the bill 

At bidding me to bow. 135 

(16) [p. 210.] 

"Into this wode ay walk I sail, 
Ledand my lyfe as woful wycht : 
Heir I forsaik bayth hour and hall, 
And all thir bigings that are 

brycht! 139 

My bed is maid full cauld, 
With beistis bryme and bauld. 
That garris me say, bayth day and 

nycht, 
Allace that ever the toung sould 

hecht 
That hart thocht not to hauld!" 144 



(17) 

Thir words out throw my hairt so 

went. 
That neir I wepit for hir wo ; 
But thairto wald I not consent. 
And said that it sould not be so. 148 
Into my armes swythe 
Embrasit I that blythe, 
Sayand, "Sweit hart! of harmes 

ho! 
Found sail I never this forrest fro, 
Quhill ye me confort kyth." 153 

(18) 

Than knelit I befoir that cleir ; 

And meiklie could Mr mercye craiiF 

That semlie than, with sobir chier, 

Me of hir gudlynes forgaif . 157 

It wes no neid I-wys, 

To bid ws uther kys. 

Thau" mycht no hairtis mair joy 

resaif, 
Nor uther could of uther haif : 
Thus brocht wer we to blys. 162 
(MS. in Pepysian Libr. Cambr.)] 
(52) Cou thou me the raschis greue. 

[Appendix to the Eoyal ]\ISS, 58 (No. 26 in the ' Catalogue of the 
Manuscript Music in the British Museum, 1842, p. 10). The FayrfaxMS. 
leaf 2. Printed in liitson's Ancient Songs, vdl. i, p. Ixxv, witii the music. 

c OUe to me the Rysshys grene. CoUe to me. 
CoUe to me the Eysshes grene. CoUe to me. 

ffor my pastyme, vpon a day, 

I walkyde a-lone ryght secretly ; 

in A mornynge of lusty may, 

me to Reioyce I dj^d A-plye. 

wher I saw one in gret dystresse 

Conipla}Tiyng« hym thus pytuously: 

"Alas !" he sayde, " for my mastres, 

I well p«rseyue that I shall dye. 
" wythout that thus she of huiY grace, 

to pety she wyll some what reuert, 

I bane most cause to say A-las ! 

ffor hyt ys she that hath my hart, 
" Soo to contynew whyle my lyff endure, 

though I fore hure sholde suffre dethe ; 

She hath my hart wyth owt Recure, 

And euer shall, durynge my brethe." 

On the back of leaf 12 is the same burden — 

" Coll to me the russhes grene. Coll to me. 
Coll to me the russhes grene. Coll to me." 

set to a different tune.] 



" The Complaynt-of- Scotland" sweet Songs. cliii 

(53) Allace, i vyit zour tua fayr ene !^ 

(54) Gode zou, gude day, vil boy. 

(55) Lady, help zour presoueir^. 

(56) Kyng villzamis note. 

(57) The laug nounenou [= uonuy no]. 

(58) The cheapel valk. 

(59) Faytht is there none. 

(60) Skald abellis nou. 

(61) The abirdenis nou. 

(62) Brume brume on hil. 

[JEiifflisk. See Capt. Cox, LIII, p. cxxvlii atove, and Pop. Mus. p. 459.] 

(63) Allone i veip in grit distres. 

[aodlified in The Gude and Godlie Ballates, p. 129, ed. D. Laing, 1868.] 

(64) Trolee lolee, lemnien dou. 

[Cp. Capt. Cox's Trohj lo, LIV, p. cxxix.] 

(65) Bille, vil thou cum by a lute, 

and belt tlie in Sanct Francis cord ? 

[In Constable's MS. Cantus the following lines [probably] of this song 
are introduced into a medley : 

Bille, will ye cum by a lute, 

And tuich it with your pin ? trow low ! [Leyden, p. 279.)] 

{Q^ The frog cam to the myl dur. 

[Pinkerton, in his Select ISallads, ii. 33, says that " The froggie came 
to the mill door" was sung on the Edinburgh stage shortly before 1784. 
Leyden, p. 279, gives a few Lines of another nursery song on the frog (or 
cat) and mouse. The earliest English notice of a Frog-song that we 
have is the entry on the Stationers' Register of a license to Edward 
"White on 21 November 1580 of fom^ ballads, of which the first is " A 
moste strange weddinge of the frogge and the mouse" {Collier's Stat. 
Reg. ii. 132). Dr. Rim'bault has printed in his Little Book, p. 87-94, three 
versions of the wedding of the Frog and Mouse,— one Scotch, from Mr. 
C. K. Sharpe's Ballad Book 1826, — and mentions another old "Frogge 
Song" in Halliwell's Nurscrij Rhymes, ed. 1843, p. 87, and a parody upon 
the same in Tom d'TJrfey's Pills to 2niyge Melancholy, 1719, vol. i. p. 14.] 

(67) The sang of gilquhiskar. 

(68) E-ycht soirly musing iu my mynde, 

[Godlified in the Godlie Ballates, p. 54, ed. D. Laing, 1868.] 

(69) Grod sen the due hed byddin in France, 
And delaubaute hed neuyr cum harae. 

[This song is not known ; it must have been on ' the Chevalier de la 
Beaute,' who was left as Pro-regent va Scotland when John Duke of 
Albany retired to France, in the minority of James V, and who was 
murdered in 1515.' Leyden, p. 276. See in Dunbar's Works, ed. Laing, 
i. 251 " Ane Orisoun quien the Govemour past into France."] 

• Mr. David Laing thinks, from these first lines, that their songs are Kkely 
to have been Alexander Scott's. Al. Scott's Poems, p. x. 



cliv '^' The Complaynt-of-Scolland"^ siveet Songs, 

(70) Al musing of raeruellis, amys hef i gone. 

[A verse of this song occurs in Constable's MS. Cantua : 

" All musing of mervells in the mid morne, 
Through a sltmk in a slaid, amisse have I gone ; 
I heard a song me beside, that reft from me my sjirite, 
But through my dream as I dreamed, this was the effect." 

Letjden, p. 279.] 

(71) Mastres fayr, ze vil forfayr. 

(72) O lusty maye, vitht flora quene. 

["This beautiful song was printed by Chepman and Myllar in 1508, 
and also ia Forbes' s Aberdeen Cantus [thence reprinted by Ritson, Scothh 
Songs, Hist. Essay, p. xli] : a copy with several variations, is preserved 
in the Bannatyne MS." Leijde)!, p. 279. The latter, not modernized 
as in Forbes, whose second song it is, is printed at the end of Alexander 
Scott's Poems, p. 97-9, ed. D. Laing. 



(1) 
" lusty May with Flora qnono. 
The balmy dropis fi'ome Phebus 
shene, 
Preluciand hemes be-foir the day, 
bcfoir the day. 
By the Diana growis grene, 

Throwch glaidnes of this lusty 
May. 

(2) _ 
Than Esperus, that is so bricht 
Till wofuU hairtis, castis his lye/it 
"With bankis that blumes (on 
euery bray) — bis ; 
And schiiris ar sched furtA of Jjat 
sicht 
Thruch glaidnes of this lusty 
May. 

" The following stanza, which occurs not in the Manuscript is added 
from the Aberdeen Cantus. 



(3) 
Birdis on bcwis of every birth, 
Reiosing nottis makand thair mirth, 
Ryc/(t pleasandly vpoun the spray 
W/tA fflurissingis, oiu- fcild & firth, 
Thruch ' glaidnes of this lusty 
May.' 

(4) 

All luvaris l^at ar in cair, 
To thair ladcis than do repair 
In fresch mornyngis (befoir the 

And ar in mirth ay mair & mair 
Thruch glaidnes of this lusty 
May. 

Bann. MS. fol. 



Of everie moneth in the yeir 

To mirthfull May thair is no peir, 

Hir glistrine garments ar so gay, 



You lovaris all mak merie choir, 
Tlu-uch glaidness of this lustie 
May."] 



(73) O myue hart, hay, this is my sang, 
[Godlified in the Oodlie Ballatcs, p. 121.] 

(74) The battel of the hayrlaui. 

[The battle was fought ni 1-ill hy the Earl of Mar and his force against 
the plundering Donald of the Isles with an army of 10,000 men. *' But 
the earliest edition [of the ballad] that can be traced was published by 
Ramsay : and all the ancient poetry which passed through his hands was 
exposed to the most unwarrantable alterations . . The poem consists of 
248 lines . . is a dry and circumstantial narrative, with little or no em- 



^ See the Dance Tune — The Battel of Harloe in the British Museum Addit. 
MS. 10,114, leaf 4 bk. No. 8. 



^^ The Complaynt-of- Scotland '^ stveet Songs. clv 

bellislimcnt, and can only bo considered as valuable in the belief of its 
being ancient. Of the author's historical vein a sufficient estimate may 
be formed from the subsequent" stanza: 

Gude Sir Alexander Irving, 

The much renownit laird of Drum, 
Nane in his days was bettir sene, 

Quhcn they war semblit, all and sum ; 

To praise him we sould not be dumm, 
For valour, witt, and worthyness. 

To end his days he ther did cum, 
Quhois ransom is remeidyless." 

Irving' s ITist. of Scottish Poetry, p. 162-3. 

A copy of this ballad dated 1668 was in the collection of Mr. Robert 
Mylne, the Collector. The ballad is printed in Allan Eamsay's Evergreen 
1724, and Laing's Early Metrical Talcs, 1826, {HazUtt's Handbook, p. 32, 
col. 2.) in "Two old Historical Scots Poems giving an account of the 
Battles of Harlaw and the Eeid-Squair," Glasgow 1748, &c &c. 

Fi'om MotherivclV s Min&trehy Ancient and Modern, (Glasgow 1827) p. Ixii 
note, Mr. Murray sends me the following: "The Battle of Hairlaw. — 
Antiqviaries have differed in opinion regarding the age of this composi- 
tion ; but the best informed have agreed in looking upon it as of coeval 
production, or nearly so, with the historical event on which it is founded ; 
and in this opinion the present writer entii'cly coincides. No edition 
prior to E,am8a}''s time has been preserved, though it was printed in 1668 
as we are informed by Mr. Laing in his Eaidy Metrical Tales, an edition 
of that date having been in the curious library of old Robert Mylne. In 
the Complaynt of Scotland 1549, this ballad is mentioned. In tJie Polcmo 
Middinia its tune is referred to 

Interea ante alios dux piperlarius heros, 
PrEccedens magnamque gerens cum burdine pypam, 
Incipit Harlai cunctis sonare Batellum. 

And in a MS. collection of tunes, written in the hand of Sir "William 
Mure of Rowallan, which I have seen, occurs, "the battle of harlaw." 
From the extreme popularity of the Song, it is not to be wondered at 
though every early imprint of it has now disappeared. (! ! !) Ramsay 
probably gave his copy from a stall edition of his own day, which copy 
has successively been edited by Mr. Sibbald, Mr. Finlay, and Mr. Laing, 
and has appeared in other collections. A copy apparently taken for 
recitation is given in "The Thistle of Scotland, Aberdeen, 1823," — the 
editor of which among a good deal of stuff which is not very comprehen- 
sible, points out various localities, and gives 3 stanzas of a bui'lesque song 
on the same subject popular in the north."] 

(75) The hunttis of cheuet. 

[This is the older and far finer version of the well-known ballad of 
Chevy- Chase. A noble ballad it is, this Suntisnj of the Cheviot, — no doubt 
that which stirred the heart of Sidney more than a trumpet, — though 
it's not known nearly so well as its poorer modernization, Chevy-Chase. 
The only copy we have of it is in the Ashmole MS. 48, leaves 15-18. 
Hearne first printed it in his Preface to the History of Gulielmus Neu- 
brigensis, p. Ixxxii. Percy made it the first ballad in his llcliques, and 
it has been reprinted in Prof. Child's Ballads, vii. 29, &c, &c. The Rychard 
Shcale, whose name is at the end of the ballad, was a well-known minstrel 
and writer of doggrel, and made either this copy or the one from which it 
was taken. Copiers in old times often signed their- names to the works 



clvi " The Complaynt -of -Scotland" sweet Songs. 



they copied. The fight of which the ballad tells, is not known to History, 
except in so far as it's mixt up with the battle of Otterbourne fought in 
1388. 

Of the modern version of the ballad, Ohevy CJiase, the copies and varia- 
tions are many. Perhaps the oldest copy is in the Percy Folio Ballads and 
Romances, ii. 7-16. That in 'the Scotch edition printed at Glasgow 8vo. 
1747, is remarkable,' says Bp. Percy, 'for the wilful Corruptions made 
in all the Passages which concern the two nations. ' 

See Maidment's Scotish Ballads, 1868, i. 81 ; Dr. Rimbault's Musical 
Illustrations to Percy's Reliqttes, p. 1 ; Chappell's Pojpular Music, &c., &c.] 

(76) Sal i go vitht zou to rumbelo fayr ? 

[No such place as Eumbelo or Rumbeloch is known, sayb Mr. Murray 
though the word rumbeloiv has been common in ballad-burdens from early 
times. Take this, on the battle of Bannockburn, 1314, preserved by the 
English chronicler Fabyan : 

Maydins of England, sore may ye morne 

For your lemmans ye haue loste at Bannockysborne, 

Wyth heue a lowe. 
What wenyt the kynge of England 
So soone to have wonne Scotlande, 

Wylh rumhylow .?] 



(77) Greuit is my sorrou. 

[Godlified in the Godlic Ballates, p. 132. The poem is English; 
lament of a sad lady whom her lover's unkindness slays. 



The 



Sloane MS. 1584, leaf 85.' 



(1) 



Greuus ys my sorowe 

Both evyne and- moro ! 

Vnto my selflfe a-lone 

Thus do I make my mowne, 4 

That Vnkyndnes haith kyllyd me, 

And putt me to this peyne. 

Alas ! what Remedy ? 

That I cannot refreyne. 8 

(2) 
Whan other me« doyth sleype, 
Thene do 1 syght and weype ; 
AUe Ragius in my bed. 
As one for paynes neyre ded, 12 
That vnkyndnes haue kyllyd me, 
And putt me to this payne. 
Alas ! what remedy ? 
That I cannott refreyne. 16 



(3) 



My harte, ytt haue no Reste, 

but styll« witA peyn«« oppreste ; 

And yett of alls my Smart, 

Yit grevith moste my harte 20 

That vnkjTidnes shuld kylle me, 

and putt me to this payne. 

Alas ! what Remedy ? [If. 85 bk.] 

That I cannott refreyne. 24 

Wo worth^ trust vntrusty ! 

Wo worth love vn-lovyd ! 

Wo worth hape vn-blamyd ! 

Wo worth favtt vn-namyd, 28 

Thus vnkyndly to kyll me, 

And putt me to this payne ! 

Now alas ! what Remedy ? 

That I cannott refrayne. 32 



• Printed also by Ritson, in his Ancient Songs, 1790, p. 93 ; and in the 
Reliqiiice Antiqum, 1841, i. 70. 

- Every final d has a ciui to it ; and nearly every final n and h have a stroke 
over them. ■* be to. 



The Complaynt-of-Scotland" sweet Songs. clvii 



(6) 

Alas ! I l5've to longe ; 

my paynes be so stronge ; 

for coOTforth haue I none ; 

God wott I wold fayne be gone, 36 

for vnkyndnes haith. kyllyd me, 

And putt me to this payne. 

Alas ! what remedy ? 

That I cannott refrayne. 40 

(6) 
Iff ony wyght be here 
That byetli love so dare : 
come nere ! Ij'e downe by me. 
And weype for company ! 44 

for vnkyndnes haith kyllyd me, 
And putt me to this payne. 
Alas ! what Remedy ? {leaf 86.] 
That I cannott refrayne. 48 

(7) 
My foes whiche love me nott, 
Be-vayle my deth, I wott ; 
And he that love me beste, 
hyme selfe my deth haith dreste. 52 
What vnkyndnes shuld kyle me, 
If this ware nott my payne ? 
Alas ! what remedy ? 
That I cannott refreyne. 56 

(8) 
My last wylle here I make, 
To god my soule I be-take. 
And my wrechyd body 
As erth in a hole to lye ; 60 

for vnkyndnes to kyle me. 
And putt me to this payne. 
Alas ! what remedy ? 
That I cannot refreyne. 64 



(10) 

Placebo, dilexi! 

com, weype this obsequye, 

My mowmarMii dolfully, 

come weype this psalmody 76 

of vnkyndnes haith kyllyd me 

and putt me to this pajme. 

be-hold this wrechid body, 79 

thai yowr vnkyndnes haith slayne ! 

(11) 
Now I be- sych alle ye, 
namely^ that lovers be, 
my love my deth fox'-gyve, 
and sofFer hyme to lyve 84 

Thovght vnkyndnes haith kyllyd 

me. 
And putt me to this payne. 
Yett haid I rether dye 
for his sake ons agayne. 88 

(12) 
My tombe, ytt schalbe blewe, 
In tokyne that I was trewe 
To bringe my love frome dovte ; 
Itt shalbe writtynge abowtte, 92 
That vnkyndnes haith kyllyd me, 
and putt me to this payne. 
be-hold this wrechid body [/<■«/ 87.] 
That y°' vnkyndnes haith slayne ! 

(13) 
O lady, lerne by me, 
Sley nott love wylfully, 
for fer love waxyth denty, 



vnkyndnes to kyle me, 
or putt love to this payne. 
I ware the, better dye 
for loves Sake a-gayne. 



100 



104 



(9) 
O harte, I the bequyeth 
To hyme that is my deth 
Yff that no harte haith he, 
my harte his schalbe, 68 

Thovght vnkyndnes haith kyllyd j 
me, ■ 

And putt me to this payne. 
Yett if my body dye, [//. 86 blc.'\ 
my hertt cannot refrayne ! 72 1 

(78) Turne the, sueit ville, to me. 



(14) 

Grevus Is my Soro, 

but deth ys my boro ; 

ffor to my selfe a-lone 

Thus do I make my mone, 108 

That vnkyndnes haith kyllyd me. 

And passyd is my payne. 

prey for this ded body 

<//rtty"vnkyndnes haith slayne! 112 

fOlnis amen. 



' (mourners) MS. mowrmarz^s. 



2 especially. 



clviii " The Complaynt -of- Scotland " sweet Songs. 

(79) My lufe is lyand seik ; 

Send hym ioy, send hym ioy ! 

[I suppose these 2 lines belong to one song.] 

(80) Fayr luf, lent thou me thy mantil ? ioy ! 

[The original song is probably lost, but a ludicrous parody, in -which the 
chorus is preserved, is well known in the South of Scotland. It begins, 

Our guidman's away to the Mers 

Wi' the mantle, jo ! wi' the mantle jo ! 
Wi' his breiks on his held, and his bonnet on his ers, 

Wi' the merry merry mantle o' the green, jo ! 

Leaden, p. 279.] 

(81) The perssee & the raongumrye met. 

[This is line 117 of the modernized Scotch version of the ballad of 
" The Battle of Otterbourne, " printed in Minstrels?/ of the Scottish Border, 
i. 354, and Prof. Child's Ballads, vii. 19, &c. :— 

The Percy and Montgomery met, 

That either of other were fain ; 
They swapped swords, and they twa swat, 

And aye the blood ran down between. ^ 

The two verses before it have a suspiciously modern twang, and this 
verse seems to me a modern cooking of the earlier verse about Percy and 
Douglas : 

English version. Scotch version. 



The Percy and the Douglas mette. 
That ether of other was fajme ; 

They scihapped together, whyll 
that the swette, 
With swords of fyne coUayne. 



When Percy wi' the Douglas met, 

I wat he was fu' fain ; 
They swakked their swords, till sair 
they swat. 

And the blood ran down like rain. 



But it may be one of the genuine repetitions that the old ballad writers 
often indulged in. 

The oldest copy of the ballad that we have is that of the English version, 
in a MS. of about 1550 a.d., Cotton, Cleopatra C iv, leaf 64, and was 
printed by Percy in the fourth edition of his Meliques, instead of the later 
and less perfect copy that he had given in his earlier editions fi-om the 
Harleian MS. 293, leaf 52. The English version says nothing of Sir 
Hugh Montgomery killing Percy, but only 

Then was ther a Scottyshe prisoner tayne, 

Sir Hugh Mongomery was hys name. (1. 161-2.) 

See the treatise by Mr. Kobert White of Newcastle, on the Battle of 
Otterbourne, with appendix and illustrations, London, 1857, and his ad- 
vertised ' History ' of the battle.] 

' In the differing and short version ia Herd's Scottish Songs, i. 154 (ed. 1869), 
and Child's Ballads, vii. 177-180, where Douglas is killed by a little boy with 
a little penknife, the verse above runs thus 

Then Percy and Montgomery met. 

And weel a wat they war na fain : 
They swapped swords, and they twa swat, 

And ay the blood ran down between. (lines 33-6.) 



" The Complaynt-of- Scotland'' sweet Songs. clix 

(82) That day, that day, that gentil day. 

[In the Brit. Mus. Additional MS. 5465, leaf 108 back, is the following 
pretty song to which, an authority in such matters has referred me as the 
same as ' That day, that day, that gentil day ' in the Comiolaynt list ; but 
the two are evidently different. The present song is perhaps in praise 
of the White Rose of Lancaster which, (for Edward IV) Adam of Cobsam 
praised in The Wright's Chaste Wife, p. iv, p. 20. 

This day day dawes, 
this gentill day' dawes, 
this gentill day dawes, 
& I must home gone. 

'In a glori?<s garden grene, 
sawe I syttyng a comly quene, 
a-mong Y flouris >at fresh byn. 
She gaderd a floure, and sett be-twene. 
Y" lyly white rose me thoujt I sawe, 
& euf'j' she sang 

this day day dawes, 

this gentill day dawes, vt supra. 

In that garden be flouris of hew, 
the gelofir gent J>fft she well knewe, 
the lioure de luce she did on rewe, 
& said ' the whijt rose is most trewe, 
this garden to rule be ryjt-wds lawe.' 
the lyly whyjte rose me thought I sawe, 
& euer She sang 

this day day dawes, 

this gentill day dawes, vt supra. 

The notion that Prof. Child seems to have started (Ballads vii. 34, 
note), and that Mr. Hales sanctions [Tercy Fol. Hal. ^- Rom. ii. 2), that the 
' That day, that day, that gentill day' of the Complayid, is a misquota- 
tion of " That day, that day, that dredfuU day!" 1. 99 of The Hunting of 
the Cheviot, and therefore means that Ballad, I cannot away with. For, 
1. the Comj)laynt has already put The Hunttis of Cheuct in its list of " sueit 
sangis," eight above " That day, that day, that gentil [or dredfull] day," 
and would not, of course, repeat it : 2. Why should we suppose the care- 
ful writer of the Coniplaynt to have put "gentil" for "dredfull," and 
thus made a double fool of himself, when the natural supposition that 
the ballad — like so many others in the list— has not come down to us, 
removes all difficulty ? It is true that Dauney [Ancient Scotish Melodies, 
Edinburgh, 1838, p. 53) runs the two lines together as part of one song 
or ballad. 

The Persee & the Mongumrye met 
That day, that day, that gentil day ; 

but if he is right, this must be a new ballad, and all prior critics have 
been wrong in identifying the first line with the Battle of Oterhourne 
ballad. Till the discovery of the new ballad, most of us will hold on to 
the old one, especially since ' That day' has 4 accents, as if it were a first 
line ; though 4 accents often occur in second lines.] 



MS. day day. ^ j take the words at the foot of the page. 



clx " The Complaynt-of-Scotland'' Songs and Dances. 

(83) My luf is laid apon ane knycht. 

(84) Allace, that samyn sueit face ! 
[Godlified in the Godlie Ballates, p. 56.] 

(85) In ane myrtbtful morou. 

(86) My hart is leiuit [= left] on the la«d. 

^ Thir scheiphirdis ande there vyuis sang mony vthir melodiiw 
sangis, the quhilkis i hef nocht in raemorie. than eftir this sueit 
celest armonye, tha began to dance in ane ring, euyrie aid seheip- 
hyrd led his vyfe be the hand, and euyrie zong scheiphird led 
hyr quhome he luffit best. Ther vas viij scheiphyrdis, and ilk 
ane of them hed ane syndry instrament to play to the laif. the 
fyrst hed ane drone bag pipe, the nyxt hed ane pipe maid of ane 
bleddir and of ane reid, the thrid playit on ane trump, the feyrd on 
ane corne pipe, the fyft playit on ane pipe maid of ane gait home, 
the sext playt on ane recordar^, the seuint plait on ane fiddil, and 
the last plait on ane quhissil. kyng amphion that playit sa sueit 
on his harpe quhen he kepit his scheip, nor zit appollo the god of 
sapiens, that kepit kyng adraetus scheip, vitht his sueit menstra- 
lye, none of thir tua playit mayr cureouslye nor did thir viij 
scheiphyrdis befor rehersit; nor zit al the scheiphirdis that virgil 
makkis mention in his bucolikis, thai euld nocht be comparit to 
thir foir said scheiphyrdis ; nor orpheus that playit sa sueit quhe 
he socht his vyf in hel, his playing prefFerrit nocht thir foir said 
scheiphirdis ; nor zit the scheiphyrd pan, that playt to the goddis 
on his bag pype, nor mercurius that playit on ane.sey reid, none of 
them euld preffer thir foirsaid scheiphirdis. i beheld neuyr ane mair 
delectabil recreatio^te. for fyrst thai begaw vitht tua bekkis and vitht 
a kysse. euripides, iuuenal, perseus, horasse, nor nane of the satiric 
poiettis, qubilkis mouit ther bodeis as thai hed bene dansand quhen 
thai pronuncit ther tragiedeis, none of them kepit moir geomatrial 
mesure nor thir scheiphyrdis did in ther dansiug. Nor ludius, that 
vas the fyrst dansar of rome, euld nocht hef bene comparit to thir 
scheiphirdis. it vas ane celest recreation to behald ther lyeht lopene, 
galmouding^, stendling^ bakuart & forduart dansand base dansis*, 

' See p. 9 (note 7). ^ gambolling. ^ striding'. 

* [Doi:ce, B. 507. (Bodl. Libr.)] 

The introductory to wryte and to pronounce Frencbe compyled by 
Alexander Barcley. Lond. 1521, 4°. 

[leaf 16.] If Here foloweth the maner of dauncynge of bace dau);ces after 
the vse of fraunce & other places translated out of frenche in englysshe 
by Robert coplande. 

FOr to daunce ony bace daunce there behoueth .iiii. paces / thai is to wite 
sy^^gle / double : repryse / & braule. And yo ought fyrst to make reue- 
rence towarde the lady / & than make .ii. syngles .i. double / a repryse / & u 



" The Complaynt-of-Scotland " Dances and Tunes, clxi 

braule. And this rule ye ought alway to kepe at the beginnynge / as it is 
sayd. And somtjone is made .ii. syngles after the doubles / & before the 
reprinses / & that is done whan the measures ben parfite. Also wha;? ony 
songe or daunce is wryten. E. betokeneth reuerewce. By .ss. double betokeneth 
.ii. syngle paces / & by .d. betokeneth .i. double pace. And yf there be .ddd. 
ye ought to make iii. doubles after as the dauwce requyreth / for somtyme is 
made but .i. double / & somtime iii. or .v. one after another / and therfore is 
ddddd. thus wryten. And whan .3. is wrytew it betokeneth / repryse. & yf 
.535. be wrytew it signyfieth .iii. repryses / & .53333. betokeneth fiue. For 
ye ought neuer to make .ii. nor .iiii togyder / nor of the doubles also / for the 
doubles & the repryses ben euer odde in nowibre. ^ Also aU bace dau^ces 
begjTi by syngles or reuerence / and ende vfith braule. If Also it behoueth to 
knowe liie nombre of notes of euery bace dauwce / & the paces after the 
r»l f ifis 1 i^sasure *of the notes. Therfore ye ought to wyte that fyrst ye 
'■ ** ■-' ought to make reuerence we'tA the lyfte fote / & than a braule 
vfiih the right fote / than two syngle paces / the fyrst -with the lyfte fote and 
the seconde with the ryght fote in goynge forwarde / & ye must reyse your 
body. 

II The fyrst double pace is made -with the lyft fote in reysynge the body 
steppynge .iii. pace forwarde lyghtly / the fyrst wi't/j the lyfte fote / the seconde 
vfith the ryght fote / & the thyrde with the lyft fote / as the fyrst. 

IT The seconde double pace begynneth wet/; the ryght fote goynge thre paces 
forwarde as is sayd of the fyrst in reysynge the body. &c. 

IT The thyrd double pace is done as the first. 

f It is to note that there be neuer .ii. double paces togyder / for the doubles 
& repryses be euer odde in nombre .i. ui. or v. &c. 

IT A repryse alone ought to me made -with the ryght fote in drawynge the 
ryght fote bakwarde a lytyU to the other fote. 

IT The seconde repryse ought to be made (whan ye make .iii. at ones) vfith 
the lyft fote in reysynge the body in lyke wyse. 

IF The thjT-de repryse is made iu place and as the fyrst also. 

IT And merke for all that is sayd that euery of these paces occupyeth as 
moche tyme the one as the other. That is to wyte. a reuerewce / one note, a 
double / one note, two syMgles one note, a repryse / one note, a braule / one 
note. 

IT And ye ought to wyte that in some places of fraunce they call the repryses / 
desmarches and the braule they call / conge, in englysshe leue. 

U This done / ye ought to put iu wrytynge for a repryse thus .5. & for thre 
reprises thus 335 / and for the braule thus .b. 

IT Bace daunces. 

IT Filles a marier / with .iiii. measures. 

K.b.^.Md.333.b. ^^,^,^, 

IT Le petit rouen / with .iiii. measiuxn. 
E. b. ss. ddddd. ss. 333. b. 
ss. d. ss. 333. b. Parfv+fl 

ss. ddddd. ss. 333. b. ^^^^T^ 
8S. ddd. ss. 333. b. 

IT Amours, with two measures. 
E. b. ss. d. ss. 333. b. \ p-_nxp 

ss. ddd. ss. 333. b. ] ^a^^iyte. 

m 



clxii " The Complaynt-of-Scotland " Dances and Tunes. 

pauuans^, galzardis^, turdions^, braulis* and branglis, buffons^, vitlit 
mony vthir lycht dawcis, the quhilk ar ouer prolixt to be rehersit. 

H La gorriere / thre measures. 

K. b. ss. ddd. '533. b. tt p , 
S8. d. 5. b. Unparfyte. 

ss. ddd. 333. b. 

II La allemande. thre measures. 

ss. ddd. 5. b. Unparfyte. 

IT La brette / foure measures. 
E. b. ss. d. ss. 3. b. 

ss:dd!:3:b. Halfparfyte. 

8S. d. ss. 3. b. 

IT La royne / foure measures. 
E. b. ss. ddd. 3. b. 
ss. d. 3. b. Unparfyte. 

ss. ddd. 3. b. 
ss. d. ss. 3. b. Parfyte. 

IT These daimces haue I set at the ende of this bake to thentent that euery 
lemer of the sayd boke after thejT dyfygent study may reioyce somwhat theyr 
spyrytes honestly in eschewynge of ydlenesse the portresse of vyces. 

IT Imprynted at London in the Fletestrete at the sygne of the rose Garlande 
by Eobert coplande. the yere of our lorde. M. CCCCC. xxi. the xxii. day of 
Marche. 

END. 

^ Puttenham speaks of ' Songs . . such as might be sung with voice . . or 
danced by measures, as the Itaii&n pavan andgalliard are at these daies [15 ] 
in Princes' courts, and the places of honourable or civil assembly' (Art of 
Foesie, p. 27, Haslewood's reprint). Favana, according to Italian writers, was 
derived from Faduana, — and not from Favo a peacock.' Pop. Mus. n. 772. 
" Morley says ' The pavan for grave dancing : galUards, which usually follow 
pavans, they are for a lighter and more stimng kind of dancing.' . . Baker, 
in his Frinciples of Musick, 1636, ' says ' Of this sort (the Ionic mood) are 
pavans, invented for a slow and soft kind of dancing, altogether in duple pro- 
portion [common time]. Unto which are framed galUards for more quick and 
nimble motion, always in triple proportion: and therefore the triple is oft 
called galliard time, and the duple, pavan time. In this kind is also com- 
prehended the infinite multitude of Ballads, set to sundry pleasant and de- 
lightful tunes by cunning and witty composers, with country dances fitted unto 
them, . . . and which surely might and would be more freely permitted by 
our sages, were they used, as they ought [to be], only for health and recreation.' 
[p. 8] At this time Puritanism was nearly at its height." Fop. Mus. i. 157. 

2 The Galliard is the only one of these dances mentioned in a late English 
list of '■^ Nine sorts of common Bances always used : Salingers round, Bobbin-jo, 
Jingle-de-cut, Bodkings Galliard, the madmans Morris, Drunken Bamaby, 
the Bedfull of bones, room for Cuckolds, and the Lankishire hornpipe. " The 
Figure of Nine. Frinted for J. Beacon and C. Bennison. ? temp. Charles II. 
The galliard was not introduced into England till about ]541 a.d. It is 



" The Complaynt-of -Scotland" Dances and Tunes, clxiii 

zit nochtlieles i sal rehers sa mony as my ingyne can put in 
memorie. in the fyrst, thai dancit, 

(87) Al cristyn mennis dance. 

(88) The northt of Scotland. 

(89) Huntis vp. 

[This is a lively English tune well fitted for dancing, printed in Mr. 
Chappell's Popular Music, i. 60, with much infonnation about the tune 
and the various words to it. The reader will find a reprint of the first 
mention of the tune in my Ballads from Manuscripts for the Society, 
vol. i, p. 310. This was "in 1537 when information was sent to the 
Council against one John Hogon, who had offended against the procla- 
mation of 1633, which was issued to suppress ' fond books, ballads, rhimes, 
and other lewd treatises in the English tongue,' by singing ' with a crowd 
or a fyddyll' a poUtical song to that tune." {Pop. Mus. i. 60.) 

Of WiUiam Gray — "one Gray, what good estimation did he grow vnto 
with the same king Henry [VIII], and afterward with the Duke of 
Sommerset, Protectour, for making certaine merry Ballades, whereof one 
chiefly was The hunte it [= t«] vp, the hunts is vp" — the reader will find 
some Birthday Verses to Somerset in my said Ballads, p. 311. Eeligious 
parodies of The Hunt is up are printed at the end of Mr. HalKwell's edition 
of the moral play of Wit and Science, from the Addit. MS. Brit. Mus. 
15,233, and in the Godlie Ballates, p. 153, ed. D. Laing, 1868: "With 
huntis vp, with huntis vp." Any song intended to arouse ia the morning, 
even a love-song, was formerly called a hunt's-up, Chappell.'] 

(90) The comout entray. 

(91) Lang plat fut of gariau. 

(92) Eobenehude. 

[Captain Cox XXII, p. li. ? Does the translator of the Soman de la 
Pose refer to this dance : 

But haddest thou knowen hym hefome, 
Thow woldest on a hooke have swome, 
Whan thou hym saugh in thylke aray^ 
That he, that whylome was so gaye, 

mentioned in the ballad of John de Eeeve, in the Pei-cy Folio Bal. % Pom. 
n. 579, 1. 529. Cotgrave has ' Galop gaillard. The Gallop GaUiard ; or a 
Passasalto ; or, one pace and a leap ;' and ' Balladinerie : f. High, or lively 
dancing, as of Galliards, Corantoes, or Jigges.' 

^ Tourdion the daunce tearmed a Round. Cotgrave. 

■• Webbe mentions braivls, as well others of the Complaynt dances : " neithei 
is there anie tune or stroke which may be sung or plaide on instruments, 
which hath not some poetical ditties framed according to the niombers thereof : 
some to Eogero, some to Trenchmore, to downe right Squire, to Galliardes, to 
Pauines, to lygges, to Brawles, to all maimer of tunes which euerie Fidler 
knowes better then my selfe." 1586. W. Webbe. A Discourse of English 
Poetrie, p. 61, ed. 1870. 

* Dancer les Buffons. To daunce a morris. Buffon : m. A buffoon, ieaster 
sycophant, merrie fool, sportfull companion ; one that lines by making others 
merrie. Cotgrave. 

m2 



clxiv " The Complaynt-of-Scotland " Dances and Tunes. 

And of the datmce Jolly JRobyn\ 
Was tho become a Jacobyn. 

Eomaimt of the Rose (? Chaucer s) 1. 7465. 

Cotgrave has ' Chanson de Robin, a merrie and extemporall song, or 
fashion of singing, whereto one is ever adding somewhat, or may at 
pleasure adde what he hst. . .' 

In 1550, Robert Crowley, in his Voyce of the last Trumpet (sign. B. ii.), 
says to ' the lewde or vnlemed priest,' 

Geue ouer all thy tippillyng, 

Thy taueme gate, and table playe, 
Thy cardes, thy dice, and wjnie bibyng, 

And learne to walks a sobre waye. . . 

But if thou canste do any good, 

In teachyng of an A. B. C. 
A primar, or else Robynhode : 

Let that be good pastyme for the. 

The old puritan printer and preacher was not, then, a condemner of 
ballads.] 

(93) Thorn of lyn. 

[Leyden quotes at p. 274, a verse from Forbes's Aberdeen Cantus : — 

The pypers drone was out of tune. 

Sing Young Thomlin, 
Be merry, be merry, and twise so merrie, 

With the light of the moon. 

I suppose this to be the English baUad licensed later to Mr. John Wallye 
and Mr. Toye in 1557-8, Stationers' Register A, leaf 22, (Collier's Stat. 
Reg. i. 4), and quoted by Moroa in Wager's Interlude above, p. cxxvii.] 

(94) Freris al. 

(95) Ennyrnes [= Inverness, Gael. lonar nl8\. 

(96) The loch of slene [= Slyue]. 

(97) The gosseps dance. 

(98) Leuis grene. 
[see No. (51), p. cl.] 

(99) Makky. 

(100) The speyde. 

(101) The flail. 

(102) The lammes vynde. 

(103) Soutra. 

[Soutra or Soultra edge forms the watershed between the Forth and 
the Tweed ; and Soutra is a small hamlet on the ridge, on the highroad 
from Edinbm-gh to Lauder. Soutra, separates the South countrie iyova. 
Lothian. — J. A. H. Murray.] 

^ The French original is 

Que cil qui devant soloit estre 
De la dance li biaus Robins. 



" The Complaynt-of -Scotland " Dances and Tunes, clxv 

(104) Cum kyttil me naykyt vantounly. 

(105) Schayke leg fut befor gossep. 

(106) Eank at the rute. 

(107) Baglap and al. 

(108) Ihonne ermistrangis dance. 

[The earliest ballad that we have on Johnny Armstrong is an English 
one, but Mr. "Wm. Chappell has not yet found the tune of it. The words 
are in Wit restored, 1658, and in Wit and Drollery, Jovial Foems, 1682, 
called " A Northern Ballet," beginning : 

' There dwelt a man in fair Westmoreland, 
Johnny Armstrong men did him call ; 
He had neither lands nor rents coming in, 
Yet he kept eight score men in his hall.' 

Popular Music, i. 260, note. 

Another English ballad about this hero is entitled " Johnny Armstrong's 
last Good-night ; shewing how John Armstrong with his eight-score 
men fought a bloody battle with the Scotch king at Edenborough, To a 
2)retty Northern Tune.'' A copy is in the Bagford Collection (643, m. 10, 
p. 94) printed by and for W. 0[nley] : also in Old Ballads, 1727, i. 170, 
and in Evans's Old Ballads, 1810, iii. 101.' Pop. Mus. n. 776. 

But the Cnmplaynt dance must have been one named in honour of the 
great Border plunderer Johnie Armstrong of Gilnockie, who was hung' 
by James V. soon after that king attained his majority in 1524, and 
about whom Allan Ramsay published a ballad in his Evergreen, which he 
says he took down from the recitation of a gentleman of the name of 
Armstrong, who was the sixth in descent from the hero. It was printed 
too in the ' Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,' in E. Chambers's Scottish 
Ballads, p. 35, &c., &c. How much of the ballad is Ramsay's writing, 
no one Imows. ' Jock o' the Sj'^de was another Armstrong, and there's a 
third Johnie Armstrong in 'Dick o' the Cow :' see the Ballads in Cham- 
bers, p. 40, 46. 

In R. Chambers's Scottish Songs, n. 528, is also an ' Armstrong's Good- 
night' cookt up from two bits of four lines each found by Bums. He, 
being a poet, left the bits as he found them. When wUl his countrymen 
learn to follow his example, and keep their meddling fingers off their old 
singers' remains P] 

(109) The alman haye. 

[The Almayne or German haye. The Hay was a country-dance, of 
which the reel was a variety. " In Sir John Davies's Orchestra, ' He taught 
them rounds and winding heys to tread.' (In the margin he explains 
' roimds and winding-heys' to be country dances.) In The Dancing Master 
the hey is one of the figures of most frequent occurrence. In one 
country-dance, ' the women stand still, the men going the hey between 
them.' This is evidently winding in and out. In another, two men 



* See, in Lyndesay's Satyre (ed. E. E. T. Soc.) p. 454, 1. 2092-4 

Heir is ane coird baith great and lang — 
Quhilk hangit Johne the Armistrang — 
Of gude hemp, soft and sound. 

Mr. Murray says that * Johne the ' is an error for ' Johnye.* 



clxvi " The Complaynt-of- Scotland" Dances and Tunes. 

and one woman dance the hey — like a reel. In a third, three men dance 
this hey, and three women at the same time — like a double reel. In 
Bargason, where many stand in one long line, the direction is 'the 
single hey, all handmg as you pass, till you come to your places.' 
When the hand was given in passing, it was always so directed ; but 
the hey was more frequently danced without ' handing.' In ' the square 
dance,' the two opposite couples dance the single hey tmce to their 
places, the woman standing before her partner at starting. When danced 
by many in a circle, if hands were given, it was like the ' grande chaine ' 
of a quadrille." Fop. Mus. ii. 629.] 

(110) The bace of voragon. 

(111) Dangeir. 

(112) The beye. 

(113) The dede da^ice. 

[Not known, I believe, in Scotland ; but it is, no doubt, either the 
tune referred to in Sawkins (see below) or 'The Doleful Dance and 
Song of Death,' of which the tune, and a late Ballad, are printed by Mr. 
Chappell in his Popular Music, i. 85. The tune is also called ' The Shak- 
ing of the Sheet,' and ' is frequently mentioned by writers in the 16th and 
I7th centuries, both as a country dance and as a ballad tune.' In the 
recently-discovered play of Misogo>ius, produced about 1560, T/ie Shaking 
of the Sheets, The Vicar of St. Fools, and the Catching of Quails, are men- 
tioned as country dances. . . The tune is also mentioned in LiUy's Fappe 
with a Hatchet, 1589 ; in Gosson's Schoole of Abuse, 1679 ; by Rowley, 
Middleton, Taylor the water-poet, Marston, Massinger, Heywood, Dekker, 
Shirley, &c., &c. 'There are two tunes under this name, the one in 
William Ballet's Lute-Book, which is the same as [that] printed by Sir 
John Hawkins in Yiis History of Music (vol. ii. p. 934, 8vo edit.); the 
other, and in all probability the more popular one, is contained in nume- 
rous publications from The Bancing Master of 1650-51, to the Vocal En- 
chantress of 1783.' Fop. Mus. i. 84.] 

(114) The dance of kylrynne. 

(115) The vod and the val. 

(116) Schaikatrot. 

Than, quhen this dansing vas dune, tha departit and past to 
cal there scheip to ther scheip cottis. thai bleu vp there bagpipis» 
than the bel veddir for blythtnes bleyttit rycht fast, and the 
rammis raschit there heydis to gyddir. than the laif of ther fat 
flokkis foUouit on the fellis, baytht zouis and lammis, kebbis^, and 
daihs^, gylmyrs^ and dilmondis*, and mony herueist hog*, than i 
departit fra that companye. 

* ewes, the lambs of which have died soon after being produced. 

2 ewes which miss conceiving and are fattened for eating. 

3 ewes two years old. 

* wethers more than twelve months old. 

* hog, a young sheep before it has lost its first fleece, termed harvest-hog 
from being smeared at the end of harvest, when it ceases to be called a lamb. 
Leyden. 



Ballads in Old Scotland. clxvii 

The list of Songs in the Complaynt is so much longer than that 
in Laneham's Letter that some readers might suspect that Scot- 
land was far richer in ballads and songs^ in the 17th century, 
than England ; but a perusal of Mr. Wm. Chappell's Popular 
Music will soon cure them of this opinion. Pre-Eeformatiou 
Scotland was, no doubt, as prolific of songs and ballads — relatively 
to its population — as England. Andrew Boorde says that the 
Scotchmen (of about 1540 a.d.) " be hardy men, and well fauored, 
and stronge men, ^ good musycyons ; in these jiii. qualytes they 
be moost lyke, aboue all other nacions, to an Englyshe man." 
{Introduction, p. 137, ed. E. J. E. 1870.) The ballads of one 
country were sung in the other : at least 7 of the Scotch list are 
English ballads : two of Captain Cox's are possibly Scotch, or at 
least Northern. Compare, too, in the extract that Dauney gives, 
in his Ancient Scofish Melodies, from the accounts of the Lords 
High Treasurers, 

1489, Jul. 10. Item, to Inglis pyparis that cum to the castel 

yet, and playit to the king, viij. li.^ viij s. 
1491, Aug. 21. item to iiij. Inglis pyparis, viij. unicorns, vij. li. 

iiij. s. 

1503, Aug. 13. Item to viij Inglis menstrales, be the kingis 
command, xl. french crownis, xxviij. 1. 

Item, to the trumpetis of Ingland, xxviij. 1. 

Item, to the Erie of Oxfordis tua menstrales, xxviij. 1. 

1504. Item, to tua Inglise wemen that sang in the Kingis 
pailzeoune, xxiij. s. 

But after the Eeformation, the ballad-life was crusht out of 
Scotland, though it flourisht in England. Knox's followers dis- 
couraged ballads and music by every means in their power, and 
procured the passing of a series of Acts, punishing the singers of 
ballads. Here are a few samples, sent me by Mr. "Wm. Chappell, 
from Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland: 

In 1574. " Pipers, fiddlers, and minstrels are unceremoniously 
classed together as vagabonds, and threatened with severe penalties, 
should they venture into the city" [of Glasgow] " in contraven- 

' All ballads are songs, becatise they are meant to be sung ; but all songs 
are not ballads, because songs proper are not verse narratives meant for tbe 
common people, and meant for recitation as much, as music, as ballads are, but 
lyrical expressions of feeling, meant only to be sung. A balade was originally 
a poem of tbree stanzas, all having the same burden, followed by an Envoy. 

^ A Scotch pound was a crown, of 5s. 



clxviii Scotch Ballads put-down. " Balow." 

tion of the act." — Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, V. 1, 
p. 92. 

An. 1574. " At this date he " [the Eegent Morton] " induced 
the Privy Council to issue an edict that ' nane tak upon hand to 
emprent or sell whatsoever book, ballet, or other werk,' without 
its being examined and licensed, under pain of death, Sf confisca- 
tion of goods." — {Ditto, p. 94.) 

12 Aug. 1579. " Twa poets of Edinburgh, remarking some of 
his [the Earl of Morton's] sinistrous dealing, did publish the 
same to the people, by a famous libel written against him ; & 
Morton, hearing of this, causit the men to be brought to Stirling, 
where they were convict for slandering ane of the king's council- 
lors, & were there baith hangit. The names of the men were 
William TurnbuU, schoolmaster in Edinburgh, and William Scot, 
notar. They were baith weel belovit of the common people for 
their common offices." — {(Quoted in ditto, p. 125.) 

" At the fall of Morton, less than two years after, when he was 
taken prisoner and conducted to Edinburgh Castle, as he passed 
the Butter Tron, a woman who had her husband put to death at 
Stirling for a ballad entitled Daff, Sf dow nothing [as much as to 
say, ' Sport, and he at your ease"^ sitting down on her bare knees, 
poured out many imprecations upon him." — {Ditto, same page.) 

\_Still 1579.] " The estates passed an act against ' strang and 
idle beggars,' and ' sic as make themselves fules, and are hards* 
. . . . ' minstrels, sangsters, and tale tellers, not avowed in special 
service by some of the lords of parliament or great burghs,' and 
vagabond scholars of the universities of St. Andrews, Griasgow, and 
Aberdeen,' " Two poets hanged in August, and an act of Parlia- 
ment against bards and minstrels in October ; truly, it seems to 
have been sore times for the tuneful tribe." — {Ditto, p. 131.) 



The Ballad of " Balow." 

While on the subject of English and Scotch Ballads, I take the 
opportunity of printing the only two known hitherto-unprinted 
copies of Balow, which Mr. David Laing of Edinburgh has been 
kind enough to send me from Pinkerton's 4to. MS.^ that now 
belongs to him. One of these copies, ^Palmer's Balow,* is a ver- 

1 This is the MS. of which Eitson says in. his Scotish Songs, vol. i. p. cix, 
note (108), "The editor of Select Scotish ballads pretends, that in a quarto 
manuscript in his possession, ' oontaioing a collection of poems, by different 
hands, from the reign of queen Elizabeth to the middle of the last [17th] 
centmy, when ii was apparently written, there are two balowes, as they are 
tiiere stiled, the first, The balow, Alton, the second. Palmer's balow.' " 



The Ballad of " Balow." clxix 

sion of the genuine old Balow ; the other, ' The Balow : Allane,^ is 
a poorer and later affair. See Evans's Old Ballads, 1810, ' the 
New Balow.' 

The cause of my asking Mr. Laing for these copies, was this. 
In the Percy Folio Ballads and Bomances, vol. iii. p. 516-523, we 
printed for the first time the only three MS. copies of the genuine 
Balow that had ever been in type in an uncookt state^. In 
the Introduction to the ballad, p. 518-19, Mr. Wm. Chappell 
stated that Balow was a 16tli century ballad, not a 17th ; that it 
was English, not Scotch ; and that Watson in Part III. of his 
Comic and Serious Scots Poems, Edinburgh, 1713, was the first 
to claim for Lady Anne Bothwell ' the particular honour of hav- 
ing been the wench of his version of ' The new Balow; or, a 
Wenches Lamentation for the loss of her Sweetheart : he having 
left her a babe to play with, being the fruits of her folly.' Mr. 
Chappell further showed on the evidence of one of two stanzas 
added in Watson's Scotch version, and not in any English copy, 
that it was ridiculous to suppose that this Scotch addition, or the 
poem in which it was found, referred to Lady Anne Bothwell or 
any lady of rank. " In the second [stanza] we find the inducement 
supposed to have been offered by Lady Anne's lover : 

I was too credulous at the first 
To grant thee that a maiden durst, 
And iti thy bravery thou didst vaunt 
That I no maintenance should want [!]" 

Out of Watson's own mouth then, Ms attribution of the Ballad, 
at any rate, to Lady Anne Bothwell, was shown to be absurd. 
But this pricking of the Bothwell bubble by Mr. Chappell raised 
the bile of either Messrs. Ogle of Glasgow, or some shopman of 
theirs whom they employed to write notes to their new reprint of 
Watson's Collection in 1868 ; and in a very impertinent tone the 
said shopman attackt Mr. Chappell and his argument. The man 
seems to have felt acutely that Scotland's honour had been 
wounded by a little truth ; ' yet he knew so little of his subject as 
to suppose Evans's Collection of Old Ballads, printed in 1811, of 
equal date and authority with the originals in the Eoxburghe 
Collection.' It is needless to say that he does not move an inch 
Mr. Chappell's strong point, that the tune of Balow, — which 

* Of the Percy Folio copy, I hold the 5th and 6th stanzas to be clearly 
later insertions 



clxx Two versions of " Balow " from 

implies the words — is in two 16tli century Englisli music-books, 
and that both tune and words are in two other English music- 
books of 1649 and 1658, while the words are in Bp. Percy's Folio 
MS. of, say, 1645-50. Against this, the only Scotch evidence is 
the report that Mr. Kirkpatrick Sharpe (Walter Scott's contem- 
porary) said he had heard that the Ballad applied to Lady Anne 
Bothwell. This rumour is not worth serious notice. The appear- 
ance of the ballad in Pinkerton's 4to MS. belonging to Mr. Laing, 
— which he considers, as Pinkerton did, to be of about 1650 — 
so far from being evidence in favour of the Scotch origin of the 
ballad, is against it ; for, says Mr. Laing, " There is nothing in 
the MS to indicate when or where it was written." Had it been 
written in Scotland, the Scotch mark of dialect at least, if not of 
handwriting, would have been unmistakeably on the MS. That 
being absent, we may safely conclude that the MS is English, as 
the ballad of Balow is. Even if we grant the a priori probability 
that a woman's lament over her seduction and desertion would 
belong to Scotland, the MS. evidence is yet clearly in favour of 
the ballad beiug English, as its language is. But annexed bal- 
lads, like annexed territories, and stolen waters, are sweet : and 
doubtless Scotch balladists will not be ready to give up Balow. 
The most profitable question hereafter will be, who shall gain 
the best title to it by admiring it most, for ' singularly beautiful,' 
* most touching,' it is. 



PALMER'S BALOW. 

\_Finkerton MS. itop. 48. On the margin Pinkerton writes '^Lady BothweU\ 
Lament. Ball. 2. 194."] 

Balow my babe, ly still and sleepe ! 
It greves me sore to see the weeps ! 
If thow wert quyet, I wold be glade ; 
Thy mumeinge makes thy mother sade ! 

Balow, my boy, thy mother's ioy ; 

Thy father bred me great amioy ! 

Balow ! 

'And thow, my darleinge, sleep awhyle, 
And when thow waikest, sueetUe smyle ! 
O doe not smyle as thy father did 
To Cousinge- maides : nay God forbid ! 

* This stanza is like the third of the Addit. MS. 10, 337. - cozen. 



Pinkerton's Mo MS, now Mr. David Laing's. clxxi 

But yet I feare that thow wilt leare* 
Thy father's face and hart to' beare t 
Balow ! 

2 When he begane to court my loue, 
And with his sugared wordes to move, 
His fained tongue and flatteringe cheare 
That tyme to me did not apeire ; 

But now I see that crevelP he 

Caires nather for my babe nor me. 

Balow ! 

Fairweell, fairweell, the falsest youths 
That ever kist a womans mouthe ! 
Let never maidew efter me 
Commit hir to thy curtasie ! 

For crevell* thow, if once she bowe, 

"Wilt her abuse ; thow caires not how. 

Balow ! 

I cannot chuse, but ever will 
Be loueinge to thy father still , 
Though cuninge he procxired my hart, 
That can in no wayes from him paii-t. 

In weell or woe, whare ere he goe. 

My hart sail never pairt him fro ! 

Balow ! 

®Heir, by my greeff, I wowe and sueare. 
The, and all vthers, to forbeare. 
I'le never kise, nor cull, nor clape, 
But lull my younglinge in my lape. 

Hart, doe not greeve ! leave off to mume ! 

And sleepe securelie, hart, allone ! 

[Balow.] 



\^Pinkerfon^s 4^o MS. p. 46. Sis scarcely legible note in tJie margin says : " Thii 
in Ramsay is mingled with the following (Palmer's Balow) except a few 
stanzas."'\ 

THE BALOW. ALLANE. 

Balow my babe, frowne not on me. 

Who still will weepe for wronginge the, 

Till from myne eyes a sea sail flow. 

To saUe my soule from mortall woe 
To that immortall mirtall shore, 
"Where greeff slane ghosts can greeve no more. 
Balow, Balow, Balow, Balow ! 

' better readings than the heare and still of the Addit. MS. 10, 37. 

2 This is the 2nd stanza of the Addit. MS. copy. 

3 cruel. * for crewell, cruel. 

5 Marginal note by Piokerton : ""Wanting in Dr. Percy's edition." It's 
in both Gamble's copy and the Addit. MS. 10,337. Percy Fol. JBal. 4- £otn. 
ii. 616-17. 



clxxii The Ballad of " Balow." 

Be still my sad-one ! spare those teaxes 
To weepe when thow hast witt and yearos ! 
Thy greeffs are gatheringe to a sum, 
God send the patience when they cum ! 
Borne to Bewaile a father's shame, 
A Mother's fall, a bastard's name! 
Balow &c. 

Balow, my deare ! thy feathles dade, 
When he the prodigall had mead. 
Of gudes and oathes regairdles, he 
Preferr'd the warrs to the and me ; 

Whare now, perhaps, thy curse and myne 
Makes him eate accornes with the swyne. 
Balow ! 

Yet peace, my comfort ! curse not him, 
Who now in sea of greeif doth sweim, 
Perhaps of death, for who can tell, 
Wither the iudge of heavin and hell 
By some predest[i]ned deadlio lead, 
Revengeinge me, hath struke him dead P 
Balow ! 

And were I neir the fattall boundes 
Where he lyes gaspinge in his woundes ; 
Repeatinge, as he pantes for breath, 
Hir name, that woundes more deep then death, 
And therwith dies : what hart so stronge 
But wold forgiue the greatest wrongs ? 
Balow ! 

If lininge^ lack, for that loues sake 
Which once I bore him I wold make 
My smoake vnto his body meit, 
A[nd] wrap him in that winding sheet ! 
Ay me ! how hapy had I bein 
If he had neir bein wrap't therin ! 
Balow ! 

Balow, my babe ! when thou hast yeares, 
Forget thy Mother, scorne hir teares. 
Thy birth denay, thy freindes deride, — 
It's but a courtlie trick of pryde, — 

Then mayest thou ryse, my sone, to be 
A courtier, by disclameinge me. 
Balow ! 



The copy of Balow in Eitson's Scotish Songs, i. 158, ed. 1794, 
like that in Herd's Scottish Songs, etc., i. 65, ed. 1869, is in 
13 stanzas, 9 of which are spurious ; that in Pinkerton'a Select 

* for linnen. 



The Example of Germany. clxxiii 

ScotisJi Ballads, i. 59, has only 4 verses, the last being spurious, 
and all scotified. 



I have now ended the list of work I set myself: to sketch 
hastily the stories of the books and ballads on which an English- 
man of Shakespere's class and time tells us he was trained, and 
contrast them with those of a more educated Scotchman of a 
generation earlier. Of the Ballads of England tlie history has 
been written by Mr. Wm. Chappell. The Ballads of Scotland 
have, unluckily, not yet found their Chappell, so far as I know^, 
the man who will honestly give us chapter and verse for every 
assertion, will go no further than his authorities warrant, and 
will expose the falsifications and forgeries of the men who have 
tampered with and invented many of their old ballads, real and 
unreal. Honest prints of all their old musical and ballad MSS. — 
however few — are much wanted, as these are evidence. We've had 
enough of Allan Eamsay, "Watson, Buchan, and Co. 

To trace the history of Kenilworth is no part of my task^ — for 
that I refer to Dugdale, and the many copiers of him : as for its 
present state, I refer to Mr. Knowles's excellent photographs in 
liis new edition of Laneham: to discuss the character of Leicester or 
his great Queen Elizabeth — great in spite of all her littlenesses — 
I do not purpose, much as I like to fancy our aftercomers setting 
Victorian England by the side of Elizabethan, and judging it 
worthy to be there. But, having spent this spring and summer 
in the sunshine and the glad light green of our fair native land, I 
cannot but dwell a while, in thought at least, on the bright days 
of our author during his happy stay in Warwickshire, a county 
lit for us all by a light of glory kindled in his time, and that will 
never die so long as our race lasts. Truly one understands the 
Grerman soldier's quiet words to his comrade lately on the Rhine : 
" We are not worthy to be a nation, if we let the French take this 
from us." So felt the Elizabethans when the Armada was near ; 
so the Georgians when the first Napoleon threatened; so the 



1 Of course I trust Mr. Laing and Mr. Maidment. 

2 I add in an Appendix, p. 63, the Survey of Kenilworth in Henry VIII' s 
time, from the Cotton MS. Vespasian, F is. It's in Dugdale, etc. 



clxxiv Elizabeth's Arrival at Kenilworth. 

Victorian volunteers when the Colonels of the third Napoleon 
planned to plunder London. But what are our 170,000 to the 
two millions wanted ? Where is our statesman to make us an 
armed nation ? Where is our Moltke to organize our defence ? 
May the splendid example that Prussian patriotism has set us, 
teach us to make sure, that a like fate to that which awaits Louis 
Napoleon's soldiers shall meet the foe that sets * one foot^ ' on 
our soil ! 

EaHAM, 

August 21, 1870. 



P.S. — The proof of the forgotten lines above comes on March 
31, 1871, and makes me glad that I did not doubt Germany's 
triumph, much as I grieve over the present state of Paris. But, 
to return to Laneham : — 

In exchange for the use of my description of Captain Cox's 
books, Mr. Knowles has been kind enough to give the Society 
copies of his map or plan of Kenilworth, reengraved from Kenil- 
worth Illustrated, in order that our Members may be able to fol- 
low on it Laneham's description of the place. Mr. Knowles has 
also given us the following note on Elizabeth's reception at the 
Castle. She entered by the North-west Gate, from Warwick : — 

"Besides postern gates (through the North-western one of 
which the Queen crossed 'the fayr tymbred bridge,' on July 11, 
1575, ' too hunt the Hart of fors ') there were not more than two 
entrance-gates to the Castle. 

1. The fine portal under the keep opened originally on to the 
Redfen Lane. But it was now reduced in importance by Leices- 
ter, who, to make the Castle garden private, had shifted the great 
north entrance eastward, building his new stately Gateway near 
Lunn's Tower (see map), and forming aviaries in the Northern 
towers of the outer wall (see below). 

2. Elizabeth came into the Castle by the entrance from War- 
wick, which was less altered. The floodgate or Gallery Tower 
had been rebuilt by Leicester, who had also (probably) widened 
the great dam, and made a broadish roadway on it. 

* The French boast after Saarbruck. 



Elizabeth's Arrival at Kenilworih. clxxv 

The map will show Mortimer's Tower, an interesting building 
(1200-1223), which Leicester had left untouched. Here the 
Lady of the Lake meets Elizabeth, who, having thanked her, 
passes through to the eastern gateway close under Csesar's Tower, 
along the edge of the original Norman ditch, which was now ' a 
dry valley.' Part of this fosse happily yet remains, as is said 
below, though Hawkesworth, when he dismantled the Castle (ab. 
1650), filled up two-thirds of it with the wreck of Henry the 
Eighth's building." 

P.P.S. — Since these lines were written, i.e. during the present 
year (1871), the foundations and some exceedingly fine fragments 
of a third chapel have been discovered. It stood in the lower or 
Eastern outer Bailey ; and its dimensions were about 100 feet by 
50 (outside measurement). A jamb-base of the Sedilia and a 
simple string-course are still in site. All that has been found is 
of rather Earl v Decorated work, say about 1330 a.d. Edward III 
was at Kenilworth in December, 1329, as a charter granted to the 
Cistercian Abbey at Stoneleigh proves. — E. H. K. 



clxxvi 



NOTES TO FOEEWOEDS. 

Tage x. — The first modern edition of Laneham's Letter was 
printed at Warwick in 1784. 

2. In Nichols's Progresses of Q. Eliz. vol. i., 1788. 

3. Printed for G-. H. Burn in 1821. 

4. In Kenilworth Illustrated, 1821. 

5. Again in 2nd edit. vol. i. of Nichol's Frog, of Q. E. (1823). 

6. A reprint of Burn's edit, in Kenilworth Festivities in 1825. 

7. Hotten's modernised reprint. 

8. Amye Eobsart and the Earl of Leicester ; a Critical Inquiry 
into the Authenticity of the various Statements in relation to the 
Death of Amye Eobsart, and of the Libels on the Earl of Leices- 
ter, with a vindication of the Earl by his nephew Sir Philip 
Sydney, with a History of Kenilworth Castle, including an account 
of the Splendid Entertainment given to Queen Elizabeth by the 
Earl of Leicester, in 1575, from the "Works of Eobert Laneham 
and George G-ascoigne ; together with Memoirs and Correspon- 
dence of Sir Eobert Dudley, Son of the Earl of Leicester. By 
G-EOEGE Adlabd, author of " The Sutton-Dudleys of England," 
&c. 8vo, pp. 368, with plates, cloth. 12s. 

Nichols, in the 2nd ed. of Q. E. Prog., extracts nearly the whole 
of Burn's Preface and most of Burn's notes, with an acknow- 
ledgment. 

Page xi. Progresses. — Here is Hall's account of Henry VIII's 
first, in 1510 :— 

" From thence the whole Courte remoued to "Wyndesore, than 
begynnyng his progresse, exercisyng hym self daily in shoting, 
singing, dauwsyng, wrastelyng, casting of the barre, plaiyng at 
the recorders, flute, virginals, and in setting of songes, makyng of 
balettes, & dyd set .ii. goodly masses, euery of them fyue partes, 
whiche were sange oftentimes in hys chapel, and afterwardes in 
diuerse other places. And whan he came to Okyng [? Woking] 
there were kept both lustes and Turneys : the rest of thys pro- 
gresse was spent in huntyng, hawkyng, and shotyng." — SalVs 
Chronicle, p. 515, ed. 1809. 

Page xxxii, 1. 19, and note *. The ioke of nurture. — Jackson's 
edition of Hewe Eodes in 1577 was probably the sixth : " The 
Boke of Nurture, or Schoole of good maners for men Seruants 
and children, with Stans puer ad mensam. Newly corrected, &c." 
In my reprint I gave some collations of the second known edition, 
by Petyt, — from the imperfect copy in the Bodleian, — and of the 



Notes to Forewords. clxxvii 

3rd known edition by Thomas Colwell, and the 4th by Abraham 
Veale, from Mr. Corser's unique copies, which he kindly lent me. 
Of the 5th edition by Thomas East in 1568, Lord Ashburnham 
has a copy, and I need not say that I have not seen it : he buys 
his books " for his own gratification, not for other people to look 
at." Of the first edition, about 1530, Mr. W. C Hazlitt reports 
a copy to be in the possession of a Cornish gentleman, Mr. 
Eobartes, " Imprynted at London in Southwarke by me Johan 
Redman." The 8th edition was perhaps ' The booke of Nurture ' 
licensed to Thomas Easte on the 12th March, 1581-2. — Collier's 
Mxtracts, ii. 160. 

Fage xxxvii. Olyuer of the Castl. — Mr. E. "W. Cosens says: In 
the Spanish translation of Ticknor by Grayangos and Vedia, vol. i, 
p. 523, is the following note : " Of El Bey Artus, or more cor- 
rectly, * La historia de los nobles cavalleros Oliveros de Castilla 
y Artus de Algarve,' we have before us a copy printed at Burgos 
in 1499, an edition unknown to Mendez. It is in folio, with 
wood engravings. On the last leaf is printed, ' To the praise and 
glory of our redeemer Jesus Christ and of the blessed virgin Holy 
Mary. The present work was finished in the very noble and loyal 
city of Burgos the twenty-fifth day of May, year of our redemption 
1499.' (In gothic letter, double columns.) 

" Besides the editions cited by Brunet, 1501 and 1604, there is 
one by Cromberger, Seville, 20 November, 1510, folio, in double 
columns, without pagination, 34 leaves, Grothic letter (letra de 
tdrtis), but of a different shape to that of the 1499 edition. In 
the earlier editions it is stated that the work was translated out 
of the Latin into the Erench tongue by " Eelipe Comus," licen- 
ciado ' in utroque^ but in those of the 18th and later it is attri- 
buted to a certain Pedro de la Eloresta." 

IBage xliii.— No. XVI. Tie Castle of Ladiez. Mr. Hy. Huth 
has, with his usual kindness, lent me his copy of The Cyte oj 
Ladyes ; but there is nothing in it to identify it with Laneham's 
Gastle of Ladiez except that it is all about virtuous ladies, and 
that the ' Cyte ' in the woodcut on the title-page, before which 
two ladies stand, is that of a castle or large tower, perhaps part of 
the city-wall. The book is a translation of the Erench work of 
Cristine de Pise, printed in 1496, Le tresor de la cite des dames 
(contenant plusieurs histoires et enseignemens notables aux roys, 
roynes, princesses et chevaliers, etc.) selon dame Cristine. Colo- 
phon : " Cy finist le tresor . . . imprime a Paris, le viij iour daoust 
mil quatre cens quattre vingtz et xvij pour Anthoine Verard . . . 
in fol. goth." — Brunet. Cristine, taking up a book by Matheolus 
Hfho did ' not speke well of the reuerence of women ' — perhaps 

Le livre de Matheolua 

qui nous monstre sans varier 



clxxviii Notes to Forewords (The Cyte of Lady es), 

lea biens et aussi les vertus 

qui viennent pour soi marier etc. (Paris, 1492) — 

* made grete meruayle , . , what mygbt be the cause, and wherof 
it myght come, that so many dyuers men, clerkes and others, 
haue ben, and ben, enclyned to say by mouthe / & in theyr trea- 
tyse and wrytynges, so many slaundres and blames of women and 
of theyr condycyons . . . that tliQ condycyons of women ben fully 
enclyned to all vyces." Cristine, having examined herself ' as a 
woman naturall,' and discust the matter with her friends, is forct 
to the conclusion ' tliat god made a foule thynge when he fourmed 
woman.' This troubles her much, and she dreams that three 
Ladies, Reason, Righteousness, and Justice, appear to her, argue 
against her conclusion, and say to her 

We be come to tell the of a certayne buyldynge made in the manere of a 
sloystre of a Cj'te strongely wrought by masons bandes & well buylded / 
whlcbe is predestynate to the for to make and to stable it by our helpe and 
coimsayle / in the whiche shall none enhabyte but onely ladyes of good fame / 
and women worthy of praysynges. For to them where vertue shall not be 
founde / the walles of our Cyte shall be strongely shytte. (sign. Cc.j.) 

The City is a metaphorical one ; the foundations are to be dug 
with the pickaxe of understanding, by asking questions of Reason 
as to women's nature and state. "Woman is shown to be 'ryght 
a noble thyng,' and Cato's unpolite remark ' that the woman that 
pleaseth a man naturally resembleth tlie rose, whiche is pleasaunt 
to se / but tlie thorne is vnder, & prycketh ' is explained to mean, 
that a good woman ' is one of the plesauntest thynges that is to 
se,' but the thorn is only for herself, ' the thorne of drede to do 
amysse' (sign. Ee. j.). Many good women are then described, 
Mary the mother of Christ, ' Mary Magdaleyne & Martha her 
syster,' ' the Empresse ISTychole and dyuers noble quenes and 
pryncesses of Fraunce, the quene Eredegonde, Semyramys, the 
Amozones, the quene of Amozonye (Thamaris). Howe the stronge 
Hercules & Theseus wente vpon the Amozones, and howe the .ij. 
ladyes Menalope and Ipolyte had almoost ouercome them (cap. 
18). Of the quene Pantassylea, howe she wente to the socours of 
Troye ; of Cenobye, quene of Palmurenes '; Lylye, mother of that 
good knyght Thyerrys ; quene Eredegonde, the mayde Camylle, 
quene Veronycle of Capadoce, the noble Archemyse, quene of 
Carye, and of the hardynesse of Cleolis. Then of the women that 
were enlumyned of grete scyences: the noble mayde Cornyfye 
(cap. 28), Probe the Romayne, Saplio poete and phylosophre (cap. 
30), the mayde Manthoa, Medea and another qu.ene named Cyrtes. 
Then of the women that of themselves ' founde ony thynge . . . 
that was not knowne before : Nyeostrate, otherwyse called Car- 
mentis (cap, 33) j Mynerue that founde many scyences / and the 



Notes to Forewords (The Cyte of Ladyes). clxxix 

manere to make Armoure of Iron and Steele ; the ryght noble 
quene Seres; and the noble quene Ises, that founde fyrste the 
crafte to make Orcharde, and to plante plantes. Then ' of the 
grete welthe that is come to tlie worlde by dyuers ladyes (cap. 
37-8) . . the mayden iVrenye, tliat founde the crafte to shere 
sheepe / to dresse the wolles / and to make clothe ; Pamphyle, that 
founde the crafte to drawe sylke of thewormes (cap. 40) ; Thamar, 
that was a souerayue maystresse in the crafte of payntynge /and 
. . . Irayne ; and Semproyne.' Next of the * naturall prudence in 
woman: of Graye Cyryle (cap. 45), Dydo quene of Cartage, Opys, 
Lauyne, doughter of the kynge Latyn.' These end the first Book, 
and Reason's talk to Cristine. 

The second Book contains Eyghtwysnesse (or Eighteousuesa)'a 
account of good women, those who are to form 'good buyldynge 
& hyghe palaces / royal & noble mansyons of these excellente 
ladyes of grete worshyp and renowne, [whi]che shal be lodged in 
this cyte / & shal abyde perpetually fro hens forth.' 1. those of 
souerayne dygnyte hyghly fulfylled of Sapyence,' the .x. Sybylles, 
also of Sybylle Erytee, and Sybylle Alraethea ; of dyuers ladyes 
(cap. 4), also of Nycostrate / and of Cassandra / and of the quene 
Basyne ; of Anthoyne that became Empresse : of doughters that 
loued fader & moder, & fyrst of Drypetue (cap. 8), also of Isy- 
phyle, of the vyrgyne Caudyne, of a woman that gaue her moder 
sowke in pryson (cap. 11). Next of the ' grete loue of women to 
theyr housbandes : of the quene Ipsytrace, the Empresse Tryarye, 
quene Archemyse ; Argyue, doughter of the kynge Adrastus ; the 
noble lady Agryppyne ; the noble lady Julye, doughter of Julyua 
Cezar / & wyfe of the prynce Pompee (cap. 19) ; the noble lady 
Tyerce Emulyen; Zancyppe, wyfe of the phylosophre Socrates 
(cap. 21) ; Pompay paulyne, wyfe of seneke ; the noble Sulpyce ; 
also of dyuers ladyes togyder that respyted theyr housbandes 
from the dethe ' (cap. 24). Next, how wrong it is to say that 
' women can kepe no counsayle,' and here ' of Porcya, doughter of 
Catho; of the noble lady Curya,' and of a Eoman woman in 
Nero's time. Then, what a mistake it is to ' say that a ma?2 is a 
fole that byleueth the counsayle of his wyfe, & taketh ony trust 
to it,' with instances ' of men to whom it hathe well sewed of 
byleuynge of theyr wyues' (cap. 29). Then 'of the grete welthe 
that is come to the worlde, & cometh all day, bycause of women. 
Also of Judyth the noble wydowe, quene Hester, the ladyes of 
Sabyne, Yeturye,' and 'the quene of Eraunce, Clotylde. Also 
agaynsb them that say that it is not good that women lerne letters 
. . and that there ben but fewe womew chast ; & speketh of Susan, 
of Sarra, Eebecca, Euth, Penolope, Maryamyre, & of Anthoyne 
wyfe of Druse Tyber. Also agaynst them that saye that women 
wyll be wylfully rauysshed of men / ensamples dyxxers / & fyrst of 



clxxx Notes to Forewords (The Cyte of Ladyes). 

Lucresse ; also of the quene of G-awsgrees, the Sycambres & other 
may dens.* Next, against the inconstancy of women, Eyghtwys- 
nesse cites examples ' of the inconstaunce of dyuers Emperors ; 
also of Nero', Galba, and others. But of women's constancy, 
' Grysylde, marquyse of Saluce, a stronge woman in vertue (cap. 
50) ; Florence of Kome ; and the wyfe of Barnabo the Geneuoys. 
Then, how it is not true that ' there are but fewe wome« praysable 
in the lyfe of loue ;' citing ' Dydo, quene of Cartage, to the pur- 
pose of stable loue in a woman '; also Medea, Tysbe the mayde, 
Hero, Sysmonde doughter of the prynce of Salerne, Lyzabeth & 
other louers, Juno & other worshypful ladyes' (cap. 60). Next 
is an answer ' agaynst those that sayth that women draweth men 
to them by theyr Jolytees : Of Claudyne, woman of Home ;' yet 
' Howe that he lyeth not that sayth that some women delyteth 
them in fayre clothynge or araye (cap. 63). Of quene Blaunche, 
moder of saynt Lewes, & other good womera loued for theyr 
virtues.' Lastly, that women are not by nature * scarce and 
covetouse ' as witness ' the ryche lady, & lyberall, Buyse ; and 
pryncesses & ladyes of Eraunce ' (cap. 67). 

The Third Part ' speketh howe & by whome the hyghe batyl- 
mentes of the towres of the Cyte of Ladyes were perfourraed / & 
what noble ladyes were chosen for to dwelle in the hyghe & grete 
palays and hyghe dongeons.' They are the chief Women-Saints, 
described by the lady Justice : Mary, ' quene of heuen ; the systers 
of oure Lady, Mary Magdaleyne, saynt(s) Katheryne, Margarete, 
Luce (of Eome), Martyne, Luce (of Syracuse), Justyne & other 
vyrgynes, the blessyd Theodosyne, Barbara, Dorothe, Christine ; 
also dyuers sayntes whiche sawe theyr chyldren martyred before 
them ; also saynt Maryne the vyrgyne, Eutrosyne, Anastase & her 
felawes,' and among the others, the iij. systers vyrgynes, Agappe, 
Thyonne, Hyrene (x. 6, back) ; saynt Theodore, the noble Athalye 
(or Natalye), saynt Afire,' and ' dyuers noble ladyes whiche serued 
& herboured the apostles & other dyuers say«tes' (cap. 18). 
Lastly, ' in the ende of this boke Christine speketh to the Ladyes,' 
telling them that ' nowe is our Cyte well accheued and made 
parfyte . . that ihe matter wherof it is made is all of vertue,' 
exhorting them to be humble, obedient, chaste, and pure, guarding 
themselves against the wiles of men, who strive to snare them ' as 
one dothe to take wylde beestes ': — 

And thus that it please you, my ryght redoubted ladyes, to drawe to th* 
vertues, and flee vyces, to encrease and isulteplye our Cyte / and ye to reioyce 
in well doynge. And me, your seruaunt, to be recommended vnto you i^ 
praynge god, whiche by his grace in this worlde graunte me for to lyue / and 
perseuer in his holy seruyce / and at the ende to be pyteous to my grete 
defautea / and graimte bothe vnto you and me the loye whiche end'ure[th] 
eueimore. Amen. (J . Finis. 



Notes to Forewords. clxxxi 

Surely a good book for Captain Cox and Eobert Laneham to 
have. Let us believe that it was the Captain's Castle of Ladiez. 
Its colophon, under a woodcut of two women, and between bor- 
ders, is " (J Here endeth the thyrde and the last partye of the 
boke of the Cyte of Ladyea. (J Imprynted at London in Poules 
chyrchyarde at the sygne of the Trynyte by Henry Pepwell. In 
the yere of our lorde .M. CCCCC. xxj. The .xxvj. day of October. 
And the .xij. yere of the reygne of our souerayne lorde kynge 
Henry the .viij." On the back of the leaf is Pepwell's mono- 
gram, a large woodcut of the Trinity, with elaborate borders all 
round. 

Page Ixxxv. The Ship of Foolz. — Mr. "W. Paterson of Princes 
St., Edinburgh, announces as in preparation a reprint of Alexander 
Barclay's Shyp of Fooles from Pynson's edition of 1509, with 
Introduction, Notes, and Glossary by T. H. Jamieson, and 112 
Woodcuts reproduced in facsimile from the Basle edition in Latin 
of 1497, by John T. Eeid, Artist. (P.S. I am dismayed to see 
that Warton in his Sistory of English Poetry (§ 28, vol. iii. 
p. 193, ed. Hazlitt, etc., 1871) has made the same extract from 
The Ship of Fools that I have. The Book-Pool tempted both 
Warton and me.) 

Page cxxviii, note ^ — Here follows the moralized " Com ouer 
the Boorne, Besse," from Ritson's MS, which he gave to the 
British Museum. 

[Addit. MS. 6666, leaf 143 back,] 

Come oner Y burne, besse, 

])ou lytyll pr«ty besse ! 

com ouer the burne, besse, to me ! 

The burne is fis worlde blywde 

& besse is ma«kynde ; 

so propyr I can none fynde as she. 

she dauncys & lepys, 

& crist sto«dys & clepys : 

cum ouer the burne, besse, to me ! 
Cnm oxxer the burne, besse, 
J)ou lytyll praty besse, 
cum ouer the burne, besse, to me ! 

The original (says Mr. Chappell) is "A Songe betwene the 
Queues Majestic and England," a duet between England and 
Queen Elizabeth, under the name of Bessy. Each stanza consists 



clxxxii - Notes to Forewords. 

of four lines, and they are marked alternately E. and B. The 
first verse is : 

" B. Come over the born, Bessy, come over the born, Bessy, 
Swete Bessy come over to me, 
And I shal the take, and my dere Lady make, 
Before all other that ever I see." 

23 verses. "Finis, q. "Wylliam Birche." "Imprinted at Lon- 
don by William Pickeringe, dwellyng under Saynt Magnus 
Church." A copy in the library of the Society of Antiquaries. 
See Catalogue of Broadsides, p. 17. 

Page cxxxii. Sagford and the Gaxton Prognostication. — " Bag- 
ford's collection of printed Titles etc. (although mostly stolen 
from the Univ. Lib. Camb. and elsewhere) is certainly of value. 
His MS. Titles, and his remarks about Caxton and other printers, 
serve, as Dibdiu truly said, only to mislead. His ' prodnostica- 
tion,' printed by Caxton, 1493, is all fudge, like many other works 
he attributed to the same printer." — "William Blades. 

P. xxii, No. lY. Bem/s of Hampton. — A shilling abstract in 
modern prose, The Romance of Sir Bevis of S. ITamtoim, Newly 
done into English Prose from the Metrical Version of the Auchin- 
lech MS, hy Eustace H. Jones has just been ' publisht by H. M. 
Grilbert xxxvij Bernard St. and A. Handle cxxxix & cxl High St. 
Southampton.' Mr. Jones doesn't know much about Early 
English, but his book may be bandy to many who can't get at 
the original. 

P. cxlii, No. 14. Sercules. — In Lilly's Sale Catalogue (Sotheby's, 
1871) p. 139 is this entry: "1313. Hercules. The Birthe of Her- 
cules. A Comedye. Manuscript of the XVIth Century, with 
directions for the actors in Latin and English on margins. Ssec. 
xvi {circa 1595). In all probability this is the first part of Mar- 
tin Slaughter's Play of Hercules, said to have been acted in 1598 
by the Lord Admiral's Servants, but of which no copy is now 
known." 



A LETTER: 

SEfiearin, part of ttie entertain^ 
ment trntoo tfje (^ntmt JKaicstg, 

Et ^illingiuxjorth (Eastl, in SEattoik §i\\tzt 

in this ,S0omer5 ^voqxz8b 1575. iz 

BiQwifitb : fxom a fxzznb ofSiczx 

att^iant in the (Exrxmrt, tontxr 

hi^ ixzznb a (Eiti^en, 

anb JEerrhannt 

jjf ^irniimt. 

DE REGINA NOSTRA ILLVSTRISSIMA. 

Z)um laniata ruat vicina ah Regna tumiiltu : 
Lceta suos inter genialibtis ILLA diebus, 
{Gratia Dijs)fruitur : Rupantur 6^ ilia Codro. 



VNTOO MY GOOD FBEEND, MA- 

ster Humfrey Martin, Mercer. 

AFter my liartie commendacionz, I commende mee hartily 
too yoo. Vnderstande yee, that sins throogh God & 
good freends, I am placed at Coourt heer (as yee wot) in 
a woorshipfulP room : whearby I am not onlie acquainted 
with the most, and well knoen too the best, and euery 
officer glad of my company : but also haue poour, a dayz, 
(while the Councell sits not,) to go and too see things 
sight worthy, and too bee prezent at any sheaw or spectacl, 
only whear this Progresse reprezented vnto her highness : 
And of part of which sportez, hauing takin sum notez and 
obseruationz, (for I can not bee idl at ony hand in the 
world,) az well too put fro me suspition of sluggardy, az too 
pluk from yoo doout of ony my forgetfulnes of freendship : 
I haue thought it meet too impart them vntoo yoo, az 
frankly, az freendly, and az fully az I can. Well wot yee 
the blak Prins'' waz neuer stained with disloyaltee of ingra- 
[-# 2 1 titude towarde ony : I* dare bee his warrant hee 
will not beginne with yoo, that hath at hiz hand so 
deeply dezerued. 

Bub lieerin, the better for conceyuing of my minde, and 
instruction of yoors, ye must gyue mee leaue a littl, az well 
to preface vntoo my matter, az to discoors sumwhat of Kil- 
lyngwoorth Castl. A Territory of the right honorabl, my 
singular good Lord, my Lord the Earl of Leyceter : of whooz 
incomparabl cheeryng and enterteynment thear vntoo her 
Maiesty noow, I will shew yoo a part heer, that coold not 
see all ; nor had I seen all, coold well report the hallf : Whear 
thynges, for the parsons, for the place, time, cost, deuisez, 
straungnes, and aboundauns, of all that euer I sawe (and yet 
haue I been, what vnder my Master Bomsted, and what on 
my oun affayres, whyle I occupied Merchaundize, both in 
Frauns and Flaunders long and many a day,) I saw none 
ony where so memorabl, I tell you plain. 

' Orig. worwipfuU. 

* Laneham. See his signature, El Prencipe Negro at the end. Perhaps the 
gn of his shop. — /. S. Burn, 1821. 

B 



2 ~ Kenihvorth Castle described. 

Killin"-- '^^^^ Castl liath name of Killingwoorth, but of 

woorth trutli grounded vppon feythfull storie,Kenelwoortli. 
Castl. It stonds in WarwykshyrOj a Ixxiiii. myle north- 

west from London, and az it wear in the Nauell of 
L'TP- -J Englandef, foure myle sumwhat south from Couen- 
tree, (a proper Cittee,) and a lyke distauns fromWarwyk, a 
fayre Sheere Toun on the North : In ayr sweet and hollsum, 
raised on an eazy mounted hill, iz sette eeuenlie coasted with 
the froont straight intoo the East, hath the tenaunts and 
Tooun about it, that pleasantly shifts from dale too Hyll, 
sundry whear wyth sweet Springs bursting foorth : and iz 
so plentifullie well sorted on euery side, intoo arabl, meado, 
pasture, wood, water, & good ayrz, az it appeerz to haue 
need of nothing that may perteyn too lining or pleazure. 
Too auauntage^ hath it, hard on the West, still nourisht with 
many liuely Springs, a goodly Pool of rare beauty, bredth, 
length, deapth, and store of all kinde freshwaterfish, delicat, 
great, and fat, and also of wildfooul byside. By a rare situa- 
cion and natural amitee seemz this Pool conioynd to the 
Castlz, that on the West layz the head (az it wear) vpon the 
Castlz boosom, embraceth it on either side, Soouth [a]nd 
North, with both the armz, settlz it self az in a reach a flight- 
shoot brode", stretching foorth body and legs a myle or too 
Westward : between a fayre Park on the one side, which by 
i-t ., the §Braiz^ is linked too the castl on the South, 
sprinckled at the entrauns with a feaw Coonyez, that 
for colour and smallnes of number seem too bee suffered 
more for pleasure then commoditee : And on the oother 
side. North and West, a goodlie Chase : wast, wyde, large, 
and full of red Deer and oother statelie gamez for hunting : 
beautified with manie delectabl, fresh & vmbragioous 
Boow [r] z, Arberz, Seatz, and walks, that with great art, cost, 
& diligens, wear very pleazauntly appointed : which also 

* Orig. anauntage. 

^ This passage may have two significations : One derived from the same 
expression which Laneham uses when speaking of the fire-works (p. 12), in 
which place it is understood to mean a flying shot, or one discharged fi'om a 
mortar. The other . . supposing that a flight signified a small arrow ; in con- 
tradistinction to shafts, quarrels, bolts, and piles. The latter of these is, how- 
ever, the most probahle.as the pool itself was not more than 300 ft. in breadth. 
—Burn, p. 94; Nichols, i. 427 (edit. 1823). 

^ The old niilitary word for an outwork defended by palisades, with watch- 
towers at intervals, to protect sentinels. See Le Due, under braie. — E. H. 
Knowles. The Park at Kenilworth was separated from the Castle on the 
8outli side by a part of the pool. — Burn, p. 94 ; Nichols, i. 427. 



Kc3^ 




The History of Kenilworth Castle. 3 

the naturall grace by tlie tall and fresh fragrant treez & 
soil did so far foorth commetidj az Diana her selfe might haue 
deyned thear well enough too raunge for her pastime. The 
leaft arme of this pool Northward, had my Lorde adooourned 
with a beautifull bracelet of a fayr tymbred bridge^, that iz 
of xiiii. foot wide, and a six hundred foot long : railed all on 
both sidez, strongly planked for passage, reaching from the 
Chase too the Castl : that thus in the midst hath clear pro- 
spect ouer theez pleasurz on the^ backpart : and forward, 
ouer all the Toun, and mooch of the Countree beside. Heer- 
too, a speciall commoditee at hand of sundrie quarreiz of 
large building stone, the goodnes whearof may the ||eazlyar 
i-.. ^ -, be iudged in the bilding and auncienty of the 
Castl, that (az by the name & by storiez, well may 
be gathered) waz first reared by Kenulph, and hiz young 
sun and successor Kenelm^ : born both indeed 
fo°22i°& "^it^i^ t^6 Ream heer, but yet of the race of 
225. Saxons : and reigned kings of Marchlond from the 

yeer of oour Lord .798. too .23. yeerz toogyther, 
aboue 770. yeer ago. Although the Castl hath one aun- 
cient, strong and large Keep, that iz called Ceazarz Tour, 
rather (az I haue good cauz to think) for that it iz 
mesb li^l" square and hye foormed, after the maner of Cezarz 
Fortz, then that euer he bylt it. 

Nay, noow I am a littl in. Master Martin, ile tell you all. 

This Marchlond, that Storyerz call Mercia, iz numbred in 
their bookes, the foourth* of the seauen Kingdomes that the 
Saxans had whilom heer diuided among them in the Ream. 
Began in Anno Domi. 616. 139. yeer after Horsins^ and 
Engist continued in the race of a 17. Kings a .249. yeer 
togyther : and ended in Ann. 875. Reyzed from the rest 
(sayz the book) at first by Pendaz prezumption^ : ouerthroun at 

* See Notes at the end. 

" Orig. &. 

3 This is all gammon. " Sir WiUiam Dugdale says, that the land on which 
the Castle is situate was given by King Henry I. to a Norman, named Geoffry 
de Clinton, his Lord Chamberlain and Treasurer, by whom tlae building was 
first erected." — Note in Gascoigne's Frinc. Pleas, ed. 1821, p. 81. 

•* Robert Manning of Brunne makes it the sixth : — 

\>e syxte was Merce, now ys Lyndeseye, 
J^e hed toun l^er to Lyncokie laj'. 
Stori oflnglande, 1. 14761-2, vol. ii. p. 512, ed. 1871, F. J. F 

^ Another copy reads 'Horsus,' rectius Horsa. — Nichols, 1788, i. 428. 
^ See Notes at the end. 

B 2 



4 Of Mercia. The meaning of -worth. 

last by Buthreds Hascardy^, and so fel to the kingdoom of 
the West Saxons. 

*And Marchlond had in it, London, Mildelsex, — 
Mercia heerin aBishoprik ; — Had more of Shyrez^ : Gloceter, 
Woorceter, and Warwik, — and heerin a Bishop- 
rik ; — Chester (that noow we call Chesshyre), Darby, and 
Staffoord, — whervntoo one Bishop, that had also part of War- 
wik and Shrewsbery, and hiz See at Couentree, that waz then 
aforetime at Lychfeeld. — Heertoo : Hereford, (wherin a 
Bishoprik, that had more too iurisdiction, half Shreusbury, 
part of Warwik, and also of Gloceter, and the See at Here- 
ford;) — Also had Oxford, Buckingham, Hertford, Hunting- 
don, and halfe of Bedford, and too theez, Northampton^, part 
of Lecyter and also Lincoln, (whearvnto a Bisshop, whoz See 
at Lincoln Citee, that sumtime before waz at Dorchester.) 
Heerto, the rest of Leyceter & in Nottingham, that of olid 
had a speciall Bishop, whooz See waz at Leyceter, but after, 
put to the charge of the Archbishop of Yorke. 

Noow touching the name, that of olid Kecordes I vnder- 
stand, and of auncient writers I finde, iz calld Kenelworth. 
Syns most of the Worths in England stand ny vntoo like 
lakez, and ar eyther small Ilandz, such one az the seat of this 
r , - -1 fCastl hath been, & eazly may bee, or is londground 
V on Tacit ^ P^^^ ^^ riuer, whearon willoz, alderz, or suchlike 
fol. 142. doo gro : which Althamerus* writez precizely that 
The Ger- the Germains cal Werd : loyning these too togither, 
mains call ^^.j^ ^j^g nighness allso of the woords, and svbred^ 
werfc, that i^ii.x iiit i 

we woork. 01 the toongs, i am the bolder to pronoouns, that 

Werlt : az our English Woorth,^ with the rest of our aun- 
woor d. cient langage, waz leafb vs " from the Germains : 

* Hask, harsh, Line. : Bailey. ' Hask, coarse, harsh, rough ' : Brockett. 
' An Haskarde, proletarius, ignobilis ' : Levins. ' Haskerde, a rough fellow ' : 
Bekher. ' Vilane hastarddis ' [/o>- hascarddis]. Percy's Eel. p. 25. — Balliwell. 

2 See these (save Middlesex and Hertford) in English of ab. 1300 a.d. in 
the Life of St. Kenelm, in my Early Eiiglish Poems and Lives of Saints, p. 48-9, 
1. 21-42. Mercia is there called ' >e march of Wales.' 

•^ Orig. Norhnmpton. 

* Andrew Althamer, a Lutheran ministei of Nuremberg, who lived about 
1560 ; he wrote several controversial works, and some valuable notes on 
Tacitus, from which the passage in the text is taken. See Bictionnaire Universel. 
• — Burn, p. 95 ; Nichols, i. 429. 

' A. Sax. sibrceden, consanguinity. 

" The termination Worth, which is mentioned in the text to signify land 
situate by water, is more properly derived from the Saxon pop's, a court or 
farm ; and hence the place was originally denominated Kenelm'a Worth, or 
the Court of Kenelm. — Burn, p. 95 ; Nichols, i, 429. 




Caesar's Tower, Kenilworth Castle. 



July 9, 1575. Queen Elizabeth arrives at Kenilworth. 5 



Wermut: eeuoii SO tliiit tlioir Word and our Woorth is all 

woorm- one tiling in sign [i] fiauns, common too vs both, een 

'viei^eH° ^^ ^^^^^ ^''^^' ^ *^° ^^^^ ^^ clecr, that I say 

So much not az mooch as I moought. Thus proface yo^ with 

woorth. the Preface. And noow to the matter. 



ON Saterday the nyenth of luly, at long Ichington, a Toun 
and Lordship of my Lord's, within a seauen^ myle of 
Killingworth, hiz honor made her Maiesty great cheer at 
Dinner, and pleazaunt pastime in hunting by the wey after, 
that it was eight a clock in tliQ euening ear her highness 
came too Killingwoorth. Whear, in the Park, about a flight- 
shoot from the Brayz, & first gate of the Castl, one of tliQ 
J.., J ten Sibills, that (wee reed) wear all Fatidicse and 

Theobula3§, (az partiez and priuy too the Godsgra- 
'-^^' '^ cious good wilz,) cumly clad in a palP of white sylk, 
pronounced a proper poezi in English rime and meeter* : of 
effect, hoow great gladnesse her goodnesse prezenze^ brought 
into euerie steed^ whear it pleazed her too cum, and speciall 
now into that place that had so long longed after the same : 
ended with prophesie certain, of mooch and long prospe- 
ritee, health, and felicitee : this, her Maiestie beningly ac- 
cepting7, passed fooorth vntoo the next gate of the Brayz, 
which (for the length, largenes and vse, az well it may so 
Th P t serue,) they call noow the Tyltyard, whear a Porter, 
tall of person, big of lim, & steam of coounti- 
nauns, wrapt also all in silke, with a club & keiz of quanti- 



1 That is, 'I.' 

^ Another copy erroneously states this town to he only three miles distant 
from Kenilworth. In Dr. Thomas's edition of Dugdale's Warwic/cshiri; 
Lond. 1730, vol. i. p. 346, it is related that at the period mentioned in the 
text, " the Earl of Leicester gave the Queen a glorious entertainment here, in 
her passage to Kenilworth Castle, erecting a tent of extraordinary largeness 
for that purpose, the pins helonging whereto amounted to seven cart-loads ; by 
which the magnificence thereof may be guessed at." Laneham also subse- 
quently notices this circumstance, when speaking of the preparations for tho 
Queen's reception at Kenilworth (p. 66 below). — Burn, p. 96 (from Nichols's 
first edition of 1788, vol. i. p. 5) ; Nichols, ed. 1823, vol. i. p. 429. 

^ A long and large upper mantle was denominated a pall, from the Latin 
pallium, or palla, a cloak. The great mantle worn by the Knights of the 
Garter, is by ancient writers caMe^ pallium. — Burn, p. 95 ; Nichols, i. 430. 

■* These verses, written by Mr. Hunnis, Master of Queen Elizabeth's 
Chapel, are the first in Gascoigne's Frincely Pleasures, p. 3-4, ed. 1821. 

* Another copy reads "gracious presence." — Nichols, i. 430. 

* Stead is from the Saxon Stede, a room or place. See Somner. — Burn, 
p. 96 ; Nichols, L 430. ^ 7 Ori^. accepning. 



6 The Porter, Trumpeters, and Lady of the Lake. 

tee according, had a rough speech, full of passions, in 
meeter aptly made to the purpose : whearby (az her high- 
nes was cum within his warde) hee burst out in a great 
pang of impatiens^ to see such vncooth trudging too and 
fro, such riding in and out, with such dyn and noiz of talk 
within the charge of his offis : whearof hee neuer saw the 
like, nor had any warning afore, ne yet coold make too him- 
r , g T selfe any cauze of the matter : at last, vpon better 

vieu and auisementf, as hee preast too cum neerar : 
confessing anon that hee found him self pearced at the pre- 
zens of a personage so euidently expressing an heroicall Sou- 
eraintee ouer all the whole estates & hy degreez thear be- 
syde, callmd hiz stoniz", proclaims open gates and free pas- 
sage to all, yeelds vp hiz club, hiz keyz^, hiz office, and all, 
and on hiz kneez humbly prayz pardon of hiz ignorauns and 

impaciens : which her highnes graciouslie graunt- 
petooux3°^" ^^^' ^^ cauzd hiz Trumpetoourz that stood vppon 

the wall of the gate thear, too soound vp a tune of 
welcum : which, besyde the nobl noyz, was so mooch the 
more pleazaunt too behold, becauz theez Trumpetoourz, 
beeing sixe in number, wear euery one an eight foot hye*, in 
due proportion of parson besyde, all in long garments of 
sylk sutabl, eache with hiz syluery Trumpet of a hue foot 
long, foormed Taperwyse, and straight from the vpper part 
vntoo the neather eend, whear the Diameter was a 16. 
ynchez ouer, and yet so tempered by art, that being very 
eazy too the blast, they cast foorth no greater noyz, nor a 
more vnpleazaunt soound for time and tune, then any oother 
r*T) 101 common Trumpet, bee it neuer so artificially* 

foormed. Theese armonious blasterz, — from the 
foreside of the gate at her highnes entrauns whear they be- 
gan, walking vpon the wallz, vntoo the inner, — ^liad this 
mu.zik mainteined from them very delectably while her high- 
ness all along this tiltyard rode vuto the inner gate next the 

base coourt of the Castl : where the Lady of the 
the Lake Lake (famous in King Arthurz book^) with too 

Nymphes waiting vppon her, arrayed all in sylks, 
attending her highness comming : from the midst of the 
Pool, whear, vpon a moouabl Hand, bright blazing with 



' See Notes at end. " Astonishment. ^ Orig. heyz. 

•• Sham ones with sham trumpets, but real men and trumpets behind. See 
p. 5 of Gascoigne's Pr. Fleas. 



The Lady of the Lake receives the Queen. 9 July, 1575. 7 

torches, site, floting to land, met her Maiesty with a well 
penned meter and matter^ after this sort : first of the auu- 
cientee of the Castl, — whoo had been ownerz of the same een 
till this day, most allweyz in the hands of the Earls of 
Leyceter, — hoow shee had kept this Lake sins king Arthurz 
dayz, and now, vnderstanding of her highness hither cum- 
ming, thought it both office and duetie in humbl wize to dis- 
couer her and her estate : offering vp the same, her Lake 
and poour therein, with promise of repayre vnto the Coourt. 
It pleozed her highness too thank this Lady, & too ad 
withall, " we had thought indeed the Lake had been oours, 
P^. . J -, and doo you ^call it yourz noow ? Wei, we will 
heerin common more with yoo heerafter/* 
This Pageaunt waz clozd vp with a delectable harmony of 
Hautboiz^, Shalmz^, Cornets*, and such oother looud muzik, 

* Verses printed in Gascoigne's Princely Pleasures, p. 7-9, ed. 1821, and 
' devised and penned by M. Ferrers, sometime Lord of Misrule in the Court.' 
— Nichols, i. 431. 

^ Straight wooden wind-instruments, with holes down the front, and conical 
ends, blown through reed mouthpieces at the top. See Notes at the end. 

3 Shalmz. See Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time, i. 35, note b. 
" A very early drawing of the Shalm or Shawm, is in one of the illustrations 
to a copy of Froissart, in the Brit. Mus. — Royal 3£SS. 18 E. Another in Com- 
menius' Visible World, translated by Hoole, 1650, (he translates the Latin 
word gingras, shawm,) from which it is copied into Cavendish's Life of JVolsey, 
edited by Singer, vol. i. p. 114, ed. 1825. The modem clarionet is an improve- 
ment upon the shawm, which was played with a quill, or reed, like the wayte, 
or hautboy, but being a bass instrument, with about the compass of an octave, 
had probably more the tone of a bassoon. It was used on occasions of state. 
' What stately music have you ? You have shawms ? Ralph plays a stately 
part, and he must needs have shawms.' — Knight of the Burning Pestle. Drayton 
speaks of it as shrill-toned : 'E'en from the shrillest shawm, unto the coma- 
mute.' — Polyolbion, vol. iv. p. 376. I conceive the shrillness to have arisen 
from over-blowing, or else the following quotation will appear contradic- 
tory :— 

' A Shawme maketh a swete sounde, for he tunythe the basse. 
It mountithe not to bye, but kepithe rule and space. 
Yet yf it be blown withe to vehement a wynde. 
It makithe it to mysgoverne out of his kynde.' 
" This is one of the ' proverbis ' that were written about the time of Henry VII. , 
on the walls of the Manor House at Leckingfield, near Beverley, Yorkshire, 
anciently belonging to the Percys, Earls of Northumberland, but now de- 
stroyed. There were other proverbs relating to music and musical instru- 
ments (harp, lute, recorder, claricorde, clarysymballis, virgynalls, clarion, 
organ, singing, and musical notation), and the inscribing them on the walls 
adds another to the numberless proofs of the estimation in which the art was 
held. A manuscript copy of them is preserved in MS. Bibl. Eeg. 18, D. 11, 
Brit. Mus." 

* Among Henry VIII. 's instruments were " Gitteron Pipes of ivory or 
wood, called Cornets," The Cornet described by Mersenne (the French writer 
on musical instruments) is of a bent shape like the segment of a large circle 



8 The 7 presents of the 7 Gods and Goddesses 

that held on while her Maiestie pleazaunbly so passed from 
thence toward the Castl gate : whearunto, from the baze 
Coourt, ouer a dry valley cast into a good foorm, waz thear 
framed a fayre Bridge of a twentie foot wide^ and 
Driage. ^ geauenty foot long^ graueld for treading, railed 
Seauen pair on either part with seaue?t posts on a side, that 
of posts. stood a twelue foot a sunder, thikned betweene with 
well proportioned Pillars turnd. 

Vpon the first payr of posts were set too cumly square 

wyre cagez, each a three foot long, too foot wide and hy : 

in them, line Bitters, Curluz, Shoouelarz, Hearsheawz^, God- 

witz, and such like deinty Byrds, of the prezents of 

^JeSr Syluanus, the God of foul. 

On the second payr, too great Syluerd Bollz, 
featly apted too the purpoze, filde with Applz, Pearz, Oher- 
riz, Filberdz, Walnuts, fresh vpon their braunchez, and with 
Oringes, Poungarnets^, Lemmanz, and Pipinz, all for the 
Pomona, giftz of Pomona, Goddes of frui[t]ez. 
ftp. 12.1 '^^^ third pair of posts, in too such syluerdf Bollz, 
had (all in earz, green and old) Wheat, Barly, 
Ceres. 3. Ootz, Beanz, and Peaz, az the gifts of Ceres. 

The fom'th Post on the leaft hand, in a like syluered Boll, 
had Grapes in Clusters, whyte and red, gracified with their 
Vine leauez : the match post against it had a payree of 
great whyte syluer lyuery Pots for wyne : and before them 
two glassez of good capacitie filld full : the ton with whyte 
Wine, the two other with claret : so fresh of cooler, and of 
looke so lonely smiling to the eyz of many, that by my feith 
mee thought by their leering they could haue foound in 
their harts (az the euening was hot) to haue kist them sweet- 
lie, and thought it no sin : and theez for the potencial pre- 
Bacchus. 4. zents of Bacchus the God of wine. 

The fift payr had, each a fair large trey streawd 
a littP with fresh grass, and in them, Coonger*, Burt^, Mullet, 

gradually tapering from the bottom to the mouthpiece. The cornet was of a 
loud sound, but in skilful hands could be modulated so as to resemble the 
tones of the human voice. — Ghappell, i. 248, note a : see also p. 631. 

' Bitterns, curlews, shovellers, heronshaws (or herons). '^ Pomegranates. 

3 Nichols, copying a Bodleian edition, leaves out ' a littl :' ed. 1788, vol. i. p. 9. 

* Conger is nothing but a sea-eele, of a white, sweet, and fatty flesh : little 
Congers are taken in great plenty in the Severn, betwixt G-locester and 
Tewkesbury, bvit the great ones keep onely in the salt seas, which are whiter- 
flesht and more tender. — Dr. Bonnet's ed. of Muflett's Healths Improvement, 
p. 149. 

* Fr. Limaude, f. A Burt or Bret fish. — Cotgrave. ' Ehomhi. Turbuts . . some 



to Queen Elizabeth, on the Bridge. 9 July, 1575. 9 

fresh Herring, Oisters, Samoiij Creuis^, and such like^ from 

jfg^^_ NeptunuSj Grod of the Sea. 

nu8. 5. On the sixth payr of Posts wear set two ragged 

stauez^ of syluer, as my Lord giuez them in armz, 
beautifully glittering of armour thereupon depending, Bowz, 
r . j3 1 Arroz, Spearz, Sheeld, Head pees. Gorget, Corse- 
Mars 6 flets, Swoords, Targets, and such like, for Mars 

gifts, the God of war. And the aptlyer (me thought) 
waz it that thooz ragged staues supported theez Martiall 
prezents, as well becauz theez staues by their tines^ seem 
naturallie meete for the bearing of armoour, as also that 
they chiefly in this place might take vpon them principall 
protection of her highnes Parson, that so benignly pleazed 
her to take herb our. 

On the seauenth Posts*, the last and next too the Castl, 
wear thear pight^, too faer Bay braunchez of a fourfoot hy, 
adourned on all sides with Lutes, VioUz, Shallmz*, Cornets, 

Flutes, Recorders'^ and Harpes, as the prezents of 
oe us. 7. piiQgbus, the God of Muzik, for reioysing the mind, 
and also of Phizik, for health to the body. 

call the Sea-Pheasant . . whilst they be young . . they are called Butts'-^ 
Muffett, p. 173, in Babees Book, p. 167, and see p. 231 ib. 

1 Crayfish, or crab. See Babees Book, pp. 158, 159, 166, 174, 216, 231, 281. 

2 The Kagged Staff was the well-known badge of the house of the king- 
maker Warwick. — See my FoUtical Meligious and Love-Foems (E. E. Text Soc. 
1866) p. xii and 3 :— 

An R. for )>c Raged staf ]»at no man may askape ; 
from Scotlonde to Calles )»erof they stonde in awe ; 
he is a stafe of stedfastnes bothe erly and latte 
To chastes siche kaytifes as don against j^e lawe. 

Also the passage there quoted from the Cotton Rolls, ii. 23, in Wright's Poli- 
tieal Songs, Rolls Series, vol. ii. p. 222 : — 

The Bere (Warwik) is bound that was so wild, 
flFor he hath lost his ragged staffe. 

Elizabeth's entertainer. Sir Robert Dudley, K.G., Earl of Leicester, was the 
younger son of John Dudley, 19th Earl of Warwick, created Duke of Northum- 
berland, 11th Oct. 1551, K.G. attainted and beheaded 1553. — Nicolas' s Peer- 
age, p. 369, 678. 

^ tines, short pricks of an antler, prongs of a fork. '' t. i. pair of posts. 

^ Pitched, placed: pret. oipicchen to pitch, fix. ^ See note, p. 7. 

7 See "The Genteel Companion for the Recorder," by Humphery Salter, 
1683. Recorders and (English) Flutes are to outward appearance the same, 
although Lord Bacon, in his Natural History, cent. iii. sec. 221, says the Re- 
corder hath a less bore, and a greater above and below. The number of holes 
for the fingers is the same, and the scale, the compass, and the manner of 
playing, the same. Salter describes the recorder from which the instrument 
derives its name, as situate in the upper part of it, t. e. between the hole below 
the mouth, and the highest hole for the finger. He says, " Of the kinds of 



10 The Gods' Poem of Welcome to Queen Elizabeth. 

Ouer the Castl gate was there fastened a Tabl, beauti- 
fully garnisht abooue with her highness armes, and featlie 
with luy wreathz boordred aboout : of a ten foot square : the 
ground blak, whearupon, in large white Capitall Roman, fayr 
written, a Poem mencioning theez Gods and their giftes 
thus prezented vntoo her highness : which, becauz it re- 
mained vnremooued, at leyzure & pleaze^ I took it oout, as 
foloeth : 

[p-14.] AB MAIESTATEM BEGIAM? 

Iwpiier hue certos cernens te tendere gressus, 
Goelicolas peinceps actutum conuocat omnes : 
Ohseqvium jprcestare iuhet tibi quenqae henignaim. 
Vnde suas Syluanus aues, Pomonaque frudus, 
Alma Geres f rug es, hilar antia vina IAcbus, 
Neptunus Pisces, tela ^ tutantia Manors, 
Suaue melos Phoebus, soUdam longamque salutem. 
Bij TIBI EBGiNA hoEc (cwm SIS dignissima) prehent : 
Hcec TIBI cum Bomino dedit se Sf werda Kenelmi. 

All the letterz that mention her Maiesty, which heer I 
put capitall, for reuerens and honor, wear thear made in 
goUd. 

But the night well spent, for that theez versez by Torch- 
light coold not easily bee read, by a Poet thearfore in a 
long ceruleoous^ garment, with a side* and wide sleeuez Vene- 

music, vocal has always had the preference in esteem and in consequence, the 
Recorder, as approaching nearest to the sweet delightfulness of the voice, ought to 
have first place in opinion, as we see by the universal use of it confirmed." 
The Hautboy is considered now to approach most nearly to the human voice, 
and Mr. Ward, the military instrument manufacturer, informs me that he has 
seen " old English Flutes" with a hole bored through the side, in the upper 
part of the instrument, the holes being covered with a thin piece of skin, like 
gold-beater's skin. I suppose this would give somewhat the eflect of the 
quill or reed in the Hautboy, and that these were Recorders. In the pro- 
verbs at Leckingfield (quoted ante, note b, p. 35), the Recorder is described as 
" desiring" the mean part, but manifold fingering and stops bringeth high 
(notes) from its clear tones. This agrees with Salter's book. He tells us 
the high notes are produced by placing the thumb half over the hole at the 
back, and blowing a Uttle stronger. Recorders were used for teaching birds to 
pipe. — ChappelVs Pop. Music, i. 246, note a. See Notes at the end. 

1 ? not pleasure, but place : ' time and place suiting.' 

■ We learn from Gascoigne {Princely Pleasures, p. 10-11) that these verses 
were written by M. Paten. — Nichols, i. 433. 

3 Azure-blue, or sky-colour, from the Latin ceruleus. Anciently, blue 
dresses were worn by all servants. — See Strutt. Hum, p. 97 ; Nichols, i. 434. 

* Side, or syde, in the North of England, and in Scotland, is used for long, 



A Poet reads the Poem. The Queen alights. 9 July, 1575. 11 

cian wize^, drawen vp to his elboz, his Dooblefc sleeuez vnder 
that, Crimzen, nothing but silke : a Bay garland on hiz head, 
and a skro^ in his hand, making first an humble obeizaunz at 
her highness cummyng, and pointing vntoo euerie prezent 
az hee spake : the same wear pronounced.^ Pleazauntly thus 
ftp 15.1 viewing the giftes az fshe past, & hoow the posts 
might agree with the speech of the Poet, at IKq 
eend of ^/te bridge & entree of the gate waz her highnes 
receiued with a fresh delicate armony of Flutz, in perfour- 
mauns of Phoebus prezents. 

So passing intoo the inner Coourt, her Maiesty (that 
neuer ridez but alone) thear set doun from her Pallfree, waz 

when applied to the garment ; and the word has the same signification in 
Anglo-Saxon and Islandic or Danish : — 

" The Erie Jamys with his Eowte hale 
Thare gert stent thare Pavillownys, 
And for the Hete tiik on syd Gwnys." 

Wyntown's Chronicle, vol. ii. 339. 
The wide and long-pocketed sleeve, called by heralds the manche, was much 
in fashion in the reign of Henry IV. Stowe, in his Chronicle, p. 327, temp. 
Henry IV., says, " This time was used exceeding pride in garments, gownea 
with deepe and broade sleeves commonly called poke sieves, the servants ware 
them as well as their masters, which might well have been called receptacles 
of the devil, for what they stole, they hid in their sleeves, whereof some hung 
down to the feete, and at least to the knees, full of cuts and jagges. Again, 
in Fitzherbert's " Book of Husbandrie," is the following passage : — 

" Theyr cotes be so syde that they be fayne to tucke them up when they 
ride, as women do theyr kyrtels when they go to the market." 
Of these Hoccleve, a master of that age, says : — 

Nor has this land less need of brooms 
To sweep the filth out of the street, 
Sen side-sleeves of pennyless grooms 
Will lick it up be't dxy or wet. 
Camden's Remains ; Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, xv. No. II. § 51. — 
Xenilworth Illustrated, Appendix, p. 11 ; and Nichols, i, 434. 

' Cp. on the enormously wide Venetian breeches or hose, Stubbes's Anato- 
mie, in Nares, and the eleventh song in Thomas Heywood's Eape of Lucrece : — 

The Spaniard loves his ancient slop, 
The Lumbard his Venetian. 

Fercy MS. Loose Songs, p. 76. 
The wide sleeve is spoken of by Peacham, says Fairholt {Costume in England, 
p. 211, note), ' " the wide saucy sleeve that would be in every dish before their 
master, with buttons as big as tablemen ;" similar to the " men " now used for 
draughts.' ' Peacham also tells us that " long stockings without garters, then 
was the Earl of Leicester's fashion, and theirs who had the handsomest leg." ' 

2 scroll. 

3 Gascoigne gives 13 other lines of Latin verse, — different from Mr. Paten's, 
— which he says ' were devised by Master Muncaster. . . I am not very sure 
whether these or Master Paten's were pronounced by the Author, but they 
were all to one effect.' — Princely Pleasures, ed. 1821, p. 11, 



12 Sunday, July 10. Service, dancirig, fireworks. 

conueied vp to cliamber : wlien after, did folio so great a 
peal of gunz, and such liglituing by fyr work a long space 
toogither, as lupiter woold sheaw himself too bee no further 
behind with hiz welcum, then the rest of hiz Gods : and that 
woold hee haue all the countrie to kno : for indeed the noiz 
and flame wear heard and seene a twenty myle of. Thus 
much. Master Martin, (that I remember me) for the first daiz 
' Bien venu.* Be yee not wery, for I am skant in the midst 
of my matter. 

Sunday ^^ Sunday : the forenoon occupied (az for the 

Sabot day) in quiet and vacation ivom woork, & in 
diuine seruis & preaching at the parish church : The after- 
noon, in excelent muzik of sundry swet instruments, and in 
dauncing^ of Lordes and Ladiez, and oother woorshipfull de- 
rtpao-e 16 1 grees, vttered with such liuely agilitee & commend- 
abl grace, faz, whither it moought be more straunge 
too the eye, or pleazunt too the minde, for my part indeed I 
coold not discern : but exceedingly well waz it (me thought) 
in both. 

At night late, az though lupiter the last night had forgot 
for biziness, or forborn for curtezy & quiet, part of hiz well- 
coom vntoo her highness appointed : noow entring" at the 
fyrst intoo hiz purpoze moderately (az mortallz doo) with a 
warning peec 6v too, preceding on with encres ; at last the 
Altitonant displeaz^ me hiz mayn poour : with blaz of burn- 
ing darts, flying too & fro, leamz"*^ of starz coruscant, streamz 
and hail of firie sparkes, lightninges of wildfier a water and 
lend, flight & shoot of thunderboltz : al with such counti- 
uauns, terror, and vehemencie, that the heauins thundred, 
the waters scourged, the earth shooke : and in such sort 
surly, az, had we not bee [n] assured of ^ the fulmieant deitee 
waz all hot in amitee, and could not otherwize witnesse hiz 
welcomming vnto her highnesse, it woold haue made mee, 

* Compare Stubbes on dancing on Sundays. " But other some spend the 
sabaoth day for the most part in frequenting of baudie stage-playes and enter- 
ludes, in maintaining Lords of Misrule (for so they call a certaine kinde of 
play which they use), may-games, chui'ch-ales, feasts, and wakesses : in 
pyping, dauncing, dicing, carding, bowling, tennisse-plajang ; in b care -bay ting, 
cock-fighting, hawking, hunting, and such like . . . Anatomie of Abuses, 1st 
ed. 1683, Collier's reprint, p. 130. See also Stubbes's most amusing chapter on 
"The horrible Vice of pestiferous dauncing, used in Ailgna," ib. p. 160-168 ; 
and his next chapter " Of Miisick in Ailgna, and how it allureth to vanitie," 
p. 168-172. 

* Oriff. entrins. * displays. 

* A. Sax. koma, a ray of Hght, a beam, light, flame. — Boswortk. ^ ? that. 



Monday, July 11. The Hunting of the Hart. 13 

for my part, az hardy az I am, very veangeably afeard. This 
a-doo lasted while [t]he midnight waz past, that well waz 
mee soon after when I waz cought^ in my Cabayn. And 
[tpage 17.] thiz for fthe secund day. 

Munday, 3. Munday waz hot; and thearfore her highnesse kept 
in a till a fine a clok in the eeuening : what time 
it pleazzd her too ryde foorth into the Chase^ too hunt the 
The hu«t- Hart of fors^ : which foound anon, and after sore 
ing- of the chased, and chafed by the hot pursuit of the 
Hart of hooundes, waz fain, of fine fors, at last to take soil.* 
^°''^- Thear to beholld the swift fleeting of the Deer 

afore, with the stately cariage of hiz head in hiz swymming, 
spred (for the quantitee) lyke the sail of a ship : the 
hoounds harroing after, az they had bin a number of skiphs^ 
too the spoyle of a karuell® : the ton no lesse eager in pur- 
chaz of hiz pray, then waz the other earnest in sauegard of 
hiz life : so az the earning^ of the hoounds in continuauns of 
their crie, the swiftnes of the Deer, the running of footmen, 
the galloping of horsez, the blasting of hornz, the halloing & 
hewing^ of the huntsmen,^ with the excellent Echoz between 
whilez from the woods and waters in valleiz resounding, 
mooued pastime delectabl in so hy a degree, az for ony 



* ? coft, coffined, coffered, shut up as in a coffer. 
^ See Notes at the end. 

•'' fors, Ft. force, force, might, strength, power, ahilitie, vigour. — Cotgrave. 
■* A term used in hunting, when a deer runs into the water. — See Phillips ; 
Burn, p. 97 ; Nichols, i. 435. See note 2, p. 33 below. 

* Lat. scapha, a boat ; Fr. esquif, a Skiffe, or little boat. — Cotgrave. 

8 At the lengthe, three shyppes were appoynted hym [Columbus] at the 
kinges charges : of the which one was a great caracte with deckes : and the 
other twoo were light marchaunte shyppes without deckes, whiche the 
Spaniardes call Carauelas. — Arber's reprint of Peter Martyr's Lecades, bk. i. 
p. 65. Sp. carobela, a small ship, called a caruell. — Minshew. *A Carvel, or 
Caravel, was a species of light round vessel, with a square stem, rigged and 
fitted out like a galley, and of about 140 tons burthen. Such ships were for- 
merly much used by the Portuguese, and were esteemed the best sailers on the 
seas. See Phillips.' — Burn, p. 97 ; Nichols, i. 436. 

'I baying, connected with Lat. hirrire, Welsh hyrrio, Engl, harr, to snarl. 
— See Wedgwood's Diet, under ire and irritate, and my Notes, p. 63 &c. 

8 Cp. our ' hue and cry.' Fr. huer, to hoot, shout, exclaime, ciy out, make 
hue and cry. — Cotgrave. See also Wedgivood. 

* Tourberville, in the " Noble Art of Vonorie, or Hunting," 4to. Lond. 1611, 
has an entire chapter of " cortaine observations and subtelties to be used by 
Huntsmen in hunting an Hart at force,' ' and gives us the words of encourage- 
ment to the hounds as follows : — 

" Hyke a Talbot, or Hylce a Bewmont, Hyke, Hyke, to him, to him 
There he goeth, that's he, that's he, to him, to him ! 



14 Monday, July 11. Stag-hunt, Savage Man, and Echo. 

parson to take pleazure by moost sensez at onez, in mine 
r ■ g jg -] opinioTi thear can be none ony wey comparable to 
this ; And speciall in ftliis place, that of nature iz 
foormed so feet for the purpose : in feith. Master Martin, if ye 
coold with a wish, I woold ye had been at it ! Wei, the Hart 
waz kild, a goodly Deer ; but so ceast not the game yet. 

For aboout nien a clock, at the hither part of the Chase, 
whear torchlight attended : oout of the woods, in her Mai- 

estiez return, rooughly came thear foorth Hombre 
The sauage gai^agio^, with an Oken plant pluct vp by the roots 

in hiz hande, himself forgrone^ all in moss and luy : 
who, for parsonage, gesture, and vtterauns beside, coounten- 
aunst^ the matter too very good liking, and had speech to 
effect: ^'That continuing so long in theez wilde wastes, 
whearin oft had he fared both far and neer, yet hapt hee 
neuer to see so glorioous an assemble afore : and noow cast 
intoo great grief of mind, for that neyther by himself coold 
hee gess, nor knew whear else to bee taught, what they 
should be, or whoo bare estate. Reports sum had he hard 
of many straunge thinges, but brooyled thearby so mooch 
the more in desire of knoledge. Thus in great pangz be- 
thought he & cald he vpon all his familiarz & companionz : 
r . jg -| the Fawnz, the Satyres, the Nymphs, the fDryardes, 
and the Hamadryades ; but none making aunswear, 
whearby hiz care the more encreasing, in vtter grief & ex- 
treem refuge calld hee allowd at last after hiz olid freend 
Echo Echo, that he wist would hyde nothing from him*, but 
tel him all if she wear heer.^^ '' Heer " (quoth Echo.) 
" Heer, Echo, and art thou thear? (sayz he) Ah, hoow mooch 

To him, boyes, counter, to him, to him ! 
Talbot, a Talbot, a Talbot !" 

" Such is the cry, 
" And such th' harmonious din, the soldier deems 
The battle kindling, and the statesman grave 
Forgets his weighty cares ; each age, each sex. 
In the wild transport joins !" — Somerville, in Nichols, i. 436. 

' Bp. Percy mistakes his appellation of the print at the end of the third 
volume of his Old Ballads ; it being the hombre salvaggio of Laneham. — Nichols, 
i. 436. 

2 For, before . . the radical meaning is ' in front of ' . . For in composition 
has the meaning oi ' out, without,' . . to forget is to away-get, to lose from 
memory . . In French we have forjeter to jut out. — Wedgwood, ii. 82. For- 
groivn, grown away, grown over. 

3 Fr. contenancer, to . . grace, maintaine, give countenance vnto ; also, to 
frame, or set the face handsomely ; to give it a gracefull and constant garbe, 
— Cotgrave. * Grig, hiw. 



Monday, July 11. The Savage Man and Echo. 15 

hast thou relieued my carefuU spirits with thy curtezy on- 
ward ! A, my good Echo, heer iz a marueiloouz prezenz of 
dignitee ! what are they, I pray thee ? who iz Souerain ? tell 
me, I beseech thee, or elz hoow moought I kuo ?" " I kno " 
(quoth shoe) . " Knoest thou ?" sayz hee : " Mary, that iz ez- 
ceedingly well : why then, I dezire thee hartily to sho mee what 
Maiestie (for no mean degree iz it) haue wee heer : a King 
or a Queen V "A Queen'' (quoth Echo.) " A Queen?" sayez 
hee. Pauzing and wisely viewing a while,^'noow full certeynlie 
seemez thy tale to be true." And proceeding by this manor 
of dialog, with an earnest beholding her highnes a while, re- 
counts he first hoow iustly that foormer reports agree with 
hiz present sight : toouching the beautifuU linaments of 
coountinauns, the cumly proportion of body, the prinsly 
[tp. 20.] gi'^.ce of prezenz, the graciouz giftz fof nature, with 

the rare and singular qualities of both body and 
mind in her Maiesty conioynd, and so apparant at ey. Then 
shortly rehearsing Saterdaiz acts : of Sibils salutation, of the 
Porters proposition, of hiz Trumpetoours muzik, of the Lake 
ladiez oration, of the seauen Gods seauen prezents : hee re- 
porteth the incredibl ioy that all estatez in the land haue 
allweyz of her highnes whear so euer it^ cums : eendeth with 
presage and prayer of perpetuall felicitee, and with humbl 
subiection of him and hizzen^, & all that they may do. After 
this sort the matter went with littl differens, I gesse, sauing 
only in this point : that the thing which heer I report in 
vnpolisht proez, waz thear pronounced in good meeter and 
matter, very wel indighted in rime. Echo finely framed 
most aptly by answerz thus to vtter all.^ And I shall tell 
yoo, master Martin, by the mass, of a mad auenture : az thiz 
Sauage, for the more submissio?i, brake hiz tree a sunder, 
kest the top from him, it had allmost light vpon her highnes 
hors head : whereat he startld, and the gentlman mooch dis- 
mayd. See the benignitee of the Prins, az the foot men lookt 
well too the hors, and hee of Generositee fsoon callmd 
[tp. 21.] ^^ ^^^ ^^^^' " ^o hurt, no hurt !" quoth her highnes. 

Which words, I promis yoo, wee wear all glad to 
heer, & took them too be the best part of the play. 



' ? she. 2 iiis'n^ gen. plur. of his. 

^ The speech of the Savage man, and his dialogue with Echo, all in verse, 
'devised, penned and pronounced by Master Gascoyne,' are given in hia 
Frincehje Pleasures, p. 12-21, ed. \^2l.— Nichols, i. 437. 



16 July 12, Music. July 13, Stag-hunt. July 14, Bear-baiting. 

™ . , Tuisday, pleazaunt passing of the time with 

muzik & daunsyng : sailing that toward night it 
liked her Maiesty too walk a foot into the Chase ouer the 
Bridge : whear it pleased her to stand, while vpon the Pool, 
oout of a Barge fine appoynted for the purpoze, too heer 
sundry kinds of very delectabl Muzik. Thus recreated, & 
after sum wallk, her highnes returned. 
"W d s 5 Wednsday, her Maiesty rode intoo the chase a 

hunting again of the hart offers. The Deer, after hiz 
property, for refuge took the soyl : but [was] so masterd by 
hote pursuit on al parts, that he was taken quik in the pool : 

the watermen held him vp hard by the hed, while 
ard^ed ^^ ^®^ highnes commaundemewt he lost hiz earz 

for a raundsum, and so had pardon of lyfe. 
Thursday 6 Thursday, the foourteenth of this luly, and the 

syxth day of her Maiestyez cumming : a great 
sort of bandogs^ whear thear tyed in the vtter Coourt, and 

thyrteen bearz^ in the inner. Whoosoeuer made 
^ Beara *^® pannell, thear wear inoow for a Queast, & -^one 
r+ 22 T ^^^ challenge, & need wear. A wight of great wiz- 

doom and grauitee seemed their forman to be, 

' Bewick describes the Ban-dog as being a variety of the mastifiF, but 
lighter, smaller, and more vigilant ; although at the same time not so power- 
ful. The nose is also less, and possesses somewhat of the hound's scent ; the 
hair is rough, and of a yellowish-grey colour, marked with shades of black. 
The bite of a Ban-dog is keen, and considered dangerous; and its attack is 
usually made upon the flank. Dogs of this kind are now rarely to be met 
with. — Burn, p. 98 ; Kenilworth Illustrated, App. 14 ; Nichols, i. 438. 

* Bear-baitings were at this time not only considered as suitable exhibitions 
before the Queen and her nobles, but the amusement was under the particular 
patronage of her Majesty. An Order of Privy Council, in July 1591, pro- 
hibits the exhibition of Plays on Thursdays, because on Thursdays bear- 
baiting, and such like pastimes, had been usually practised ; and an injunc- 
tion to the same effect was sent to the Lord Mayor, wherein it is stated, that 
"in divers places the players do use to recite their plays to the great hurt and 
destruction of the game of bear-baiting, and like pastimes, which are main- 
tained for her Majesty's pleasure." — ^Wben confined at Hatfield House, Eliza- 
beth and her sister Mary were recreated with a grand exhibition of bear- 
baiting, "with which their Highnesses were right well content." (Warton's 
Life of Sir Thomas Pope, sect. ui. p. 85.) The French Ambassadors were, 
soon after her ascension of the throne, entertained with bear and bull-baiting , 
and she stood to see the exhibition until six in the evening. A similar exhibi- 
tion took place the next day at Paris-garden for the same party. The Danish 
Ambassador, twenty-seven years afterwards, was entertained by a like spec- 
tacle at Greenwich. The Bear-gardens on the Bankside are too well known 
to be noticed here, further than to mention that Crowley, a poet [parson 
and printer] in the time of Henry VIII. describes them as then existing, 
that they exhibited on Sundays, and the price of admission to Paris-garden 
was one halfpenny. — Kenilworth Illustrated, App., 14 ; Nichols, i. 438. 



Thursday, July 14. Bearbaiting before the Queen. 17 

had it cum to a lury : But it fell oout that they wear cauzd 
too appeer thear vpon no such matter, but onlie too aun- 
swear too an auncient quarrell between them and the ban- 
dogs, in a cause of controuersy that hath long depended, 
been obstinatly full often debated with sharp and byting 
arguments a both sydes, and coold neuer bee decided : 
grown noow too so marueyloous a mallys, that with spitefull 
obrayds and vncharitabl chaffings alweiz they freat, az far 
az any whear the ton can heer, see, or smell the toother : and 
indeed at vtter deadly fohod.^ Many a maymd member, 
(God wot,) blody face, & a torn cote, hath the quarrell cost 
betweene them ; so far likely the lesse yet noow too be ap- 
peazd, az thear wants not partakerz too bak them a both 
sidez. 

Well, syr, the Bearz wear brought foorth intoo the Coourt, 
the Dogs set too them, too argu the points eeuen face too 
face : they had learnd coounsell allso a both parts : what, 
may they be coounted parciall that are retaind but a to" syde ? 
ftp 23 1 ^ ween no. Very feers, both ton and toother, & 
feager in argument ; if the dog in pleadyng woold 
pluk the bear by the throte, the bear with trauers woould 
claw him again by the skalp, confess & a list, but a-voyd a 
coold not, that waz bound too the bar : and hiz coounsell 
tolld him that it coold bee too him no poUecy in pleading. 

Thearfore thus, with fending & proouing, with plucking & 
tugging, skratting^ & byting, by plain tooth & nayll a to 
side & toother, such exspews of blood & leather waz thear 
between them, az a moonths licking (I ween) wyl not re- 
coouer : and yet remain az far oout az euer they wear. 

It waz a sport very pleazaunt, of theez beastz : to see 
the bear with hiz pink nyez* leering after hiz enmiez ap- 
proch, the nimblness & wayt^ of the dog too take hiz auaun- 
tage, and the fors & experiens of the bear agayn to auoyd 
the assauts : if he wear bitten in one place, hoow he woold 
pynch in an oother too get free : that if he wear taken onez, 
then what shyft, with byting, with clawyng, with roring, toss- 
ing & tumbling, he woold woork too wynde hym self from 
them : and when he waz lose, to shake hiz earz twj^se or 
thryse wyth the blud & the slauer aboout hiz fiz- 
[tp. 24.] namy, waz fa matter of a goodly releef.^ 

' foehood, feud. - on one. ** scrat, to scratch. — Brockets s Gloss. 

* See Notes at the end. * watch. 

6 So evidently thought also the nohles of Elizaheth's court (p. 16, note 2), 

C 



18 Thursday y July 14. Fireworks. An Italian Tumbler. 

Gunshot & ^^ ^^^ sport waz had a day time in the Castl, so 
fyrework. waz thear abrode at night very straunge and sun- 
dry kindez of fier works^^ compeld by cunning too 
fly too and fro, and too moount very hy intoo the ayr^ vp- 
ward, and allso too burn vnquenshabl in the water beneath : 
contrary, yee wot, too fyerz kinde. This, intermingid with 
a great peal of guns : which all gaue, both too the ear and 
to the ey, the greater grace and delight, for that with such 
order and art they wear tempered toouching^ time and con- 
tinuauns, that waz about too houres space. 
Tumblino- Noow within allso in the mean time waz thear 
of the sheawed before her highnes, by an Italian, such 
itahan. feats of agilitiee, in goinges, turninges, tumblinges, 
castinges, hops, iumps, leaps, skips, springs, gambaud^, 
soomersauts, caprettiez^ and flights : forward, backward, 
syde wize, a doownward, vpward, and with sundry windings, , 
gyrings^, and circumflexions : allso lightly, and with such 
easines, az by mee in feaw words it iz not expressibl by pen 
or speech, I tell yoo plain. I bleast me, by my faith, to be- 
hold him, and began to doout whither a waz a man or a 

whose * moral grace ' Mr. Froude holds has departed, and is not with us Victo- 
rians. Short Studies on. great Subjects quoted in the Forewords to my Queene 
'JSlizabethes Achademy . (E. E. Text Soc. 1869). Set beside the moral grace that 
delighted in bear-baiting, the opinion of the old puritan Stubbes in 1583, whom 
the gracious nobles would have no doubt called a coarse and vulgar brute : " is 
not the baiting of a bear besides that it is a filthie, stinking, and lothsome 
game, a daungerous and perilous exercyse ? wherein a man is in daunger of 
his life every minut of an howre ; which thing, though it weare not so, yet 
what exercyse is this meet for any Christian ? What Christen heart can take 
pleasure to see one poore beast to-rent, teare, and kill another, and all for his 
foolish pleasure ? And although they be bloody beasts to manlcind, and seeke 
his destruction, yet we are not to abuse them, for his sake who made them, 
and whose creatures they are .... And some, who take themselves for no 
small fooles, are so fan-e assotted that they will not stick to keep a dozen or a 
score of great mastives and bandogs, to theii- no small charges, for the main- 
tenance of this goodly game (forsooth) ; and wil not make anie bones of xx. 
xl. c. pound at once to hazard on a bait, with " feight dog," " feight beare," 
(say they), "the devill part aU !" And, to be plaine, I thinke the devill is 
the maister of the game, beareward and all. A goodly pastime, forsooth ! 
worthie of commendation ! and wel fitting these gentlemen of such reputa- 
tion!" — Anatomie of Abuses, ed. 1683, Collier's reprint, p. 177-8. 

' See Nichols, vol. i. p. 319, under the year 1572, when Fireworks were in- 
troduced for the Queen's amusement at Warwick. — N. 

- Orig. ayz. ^ Orig. coouching. 

* Gambade, a gamboll, yew-game, tumbling-tricke. Gambader, to tume 
heeles ouer head, make many gambols, fetch many friskes, shew tumbling 
tricks. — Cotgrave. 

* Capriot, a caper in dauncing. — Cotgrave. Sp. capriola, a. ca^ev or lofty 
tricke in dauncing. — Minsheu. ^ L. gyrus, a circle, circuit. 



Thursday, July 14. Men of the Happy Island. 19 

r . 25 "I spix'ite j and I ween had fdoouted mee till this day, 
had it not been that anon I bethought me of men 
that can reazon & talk with too toongs, and with too parsons 
at onez, sing Hke burds, curteiz of behauiour, of body strong, 
and in ioynts so nymbl withall, that their bonez seem az 
lythie and plyaunt az syneuz. They dwel in a happy Hand 
(az the booke tearmz it) four moonths sayUng Southward 
beyond Bthiop.^ 

Nay, Master Martin, I tell you no iest : for both 
Sicul*' De Diadorus Siculus, an auncient Greeke historiograph- 
anti. Egyp- er, in his third book of the acts of the olid Egyp- 
tioruOT cians'-^ : and also from him, Conrad Gesnerus'^ a great 



1 See Mandeville (from Pliny) on Ethiope, p. 157, ed. 1839. There, are the 
' folk that han but o foote : and thai gon so fast that it is marvaylle : and the 
foot is so large, that it schadewethe alle the Body ajen the Sonne, whanne 
thel wole lye and reste hom.' 

2 The reference made in the text to the third book of this author is errone- 
ous ; the passage alluded to, being in the fourth chapter of the second book, 
the which, as it tends more perfectly to illustrate Laneham's remarks, is here 
extracted from Booth's translation of Diodorus Siculus, page 82. "The in- 
habitants are much unlike to us in this part of the world, both as to their 
bodies and their way of living ; but among themselves, they are for form and 
shape like one to another, and in stature about four cubits high (six feet). 
They can bend and turn their bodies like unto nerves ; and as the nervous 
parts, after motion ended, return to their former state and position, so do their 
bones. Their bodies are very tender, but their nerves far stronger than ours, 
for whatever they grasp in their hands, none are able to wrest out of their 
fingers. They have not the least hair on any part of their bodies, but upon 
their heads, eyebrows, eyelids, and chins ; all other parts are so smooth, that 
not the least down appears anywhere. They are very comely and well- 
shaped, but the holes of their ears are much wider than ours, and have some- 
thing like little tongues growing out of them. Their tongues have something 
in them singular and remarkable, the efl'ect both of nature and art ; for they 
have partly a double tongue, naturally a little divided, but cut further in- 
wards by art, so that it forms two, as far as to the very root, and therefore 
there is great variety of speech among them, and they not only imitate man's 
voice in articulate speaking, but the various chatterings of birds, and even all 
sorts of notes, as they please ; and that which is more wonderful than all, 
is, that they can speak perfectly to two men at once, both in answering to 
what is said, and aptly carrying on a continued discourse relating to subject- 
matter in hand ; so that with one part of their tongue they speak to one, and 
with the other part to the other." Diodorus, surnamed Siculus, because he 
was born at Argyra in Sicily, iiourished about 44 years before the Christian 
aera. — Burn, p. 98-9 ; Nichols, i. 440. 

^ An eminent physician, naturalist, and scholar of the 16th century, who 
was born at Zurich in 1516. He was made Professor of Greek at Lausanne, 
and at Basil he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After having pub- 
lished many valuable works in Botany, Medicine, Natural History, and Phi- 
lolog3% he died of the plague in the year 1565, aged forty-nine. His " Mi- 
thridates," mentioned in the text, is a work on the difference of tongues 
throughout the world. — Burn, p. 99; Nichols, i. 441. 

c 2 



20 July 15, 16, rest. Sunday, July 17, a Bride-ale. 

gestis.i learned man, and a very diligent writer in all good 

'^ ' ' arguments of oour time (but deceased), in the first 

Mithrid. Chapter of hiz Mithridates reporteth the same. A z 

esneri. ^^^ ^-^^^ fellow, I cannot tell what too make of him, 

saue that I may gesse hiz bak be metalld like a Lamprey, 

that haz no bone^, but a lyne like to a Lute string. 

Wei, syr, let him passe and hiz featz, and this dayz pastime 

withall; for heer iz az mooch az I can remember mee for 

Thursdaiz entertainment. 

Friday and Saterday wear thear no open fsheawz 

Friday. abrode, becauz the weather enclynde too sum 
Saterday. 8. , o -in, -, i i -i 

(- , 26 -] moyster & wynde : that very seazouably tempera 

the drought and the heat cauzed by the continuans 
of fayr weather & sunshyne afore, all the whyle syns her 
Maiestiez thither cumming. 
Sunday 9 ^ Sunday, opportunely, the weather brake vp 

again, and after diuine seruis in the parish church 
for the Sabot day, and a frutefull sermon thear in the fore- 
noon : at after noon, in woorship of this Kenelwoorth Castl, 
and of God & Saint Kenelm^, whooz day forsooth by the cal- 
Brideale endar this waz : a solem brydeale* of a proper 

coopl waz appointed : set in order in the tyltyard, 
too cum and make thear sheaw before the Castl in the great 



^ On'/;, gestia. 

- See Dr. Christ. Bennet's ed. of Miiffet's Healths Improvement, 1655, p. 182, 
in which, we find, of Lampreys, and Lamprons, Lampretce, Murcenm, that 
" They are best (if ever good) in March and April ; for then they are so fat, 
that they have, in a manner, no back-bone at all : towards Summer thej' wax 
harder, and then they have a manifest bone, but their flesh is consiimed." 

•* See his Life in my Early English Poems and Lives of Saints, 1862, p. 47- 
57. He was king of the March of Wales [see above, p. 4, note], and Warwick- 
shire was one of his counties. ' His day is given as July 17 in the Primer of 
153G, but as Dec. 13 by Butler.'—^. S. Knowles. 

* As the accoimt of this rustic bride-ale has a considerable share of the ludi- 
croxis mixed up with it, the following description of the procession of a bride 
of middle rank, from the " History of Jack of Newbmy," may not be unac- 
ceptable : " The bride, being attired in a gown of sheep's russet, and a kirtle 
of fine worsted, attii-ed with a'billement of gold, and her hair as yellow as gold, 
hanging down behind her, which was curiously combed and plaited, she was 
led to church between two sweet boys, with bride laces and rosemary tied 
about their silken sleeves. There was a fair bride-cup of silver gilt carried be- 
fore her, wherein was a goodly branch of rosemary, gilded very fair, hung 
about with silken ribands of all colours. Musicians came next, then a group 
of maidens, some bearing great bride-cakes, others garlands of wheat finely 
gilded; and thus they passed unto the church." Out of the bride-cup, 
above described, it was customary for all the persons present, together with 
the new-married couple, to diink in the church. There is a ludicrous re- 



Sunday, July 17. The Bride-ale before the Queen. 21 

coourtj wliear az waz pight a cumly quiutine^ for featz at 
arinz, which, when they had don, too march oout : at the 
northgate of the Castl, homeward againe intoo the tooun. 

And thus were they marshalld. Fyrst, all the lustie lads 
and bolld bachelarz of the parish, sutablie euery wight with 
hiz bin buckeram bridelace^ vpon a braunch of green broom 
(cauz rozemary^ iz skant thear) tyed on hiz leaft arme (for a 
r. 27 ] tla&t syde lyez the heart), and hiz allder poll ffor a 
spear in hiz right hand, in marciall order raunged 
on a fore, too & too in a rank : sum with a hat, sum in a cap, 
sum a cote, sum a ierken, sum (for lightnes) in hiz dooblet & 
hiz hoze, clean trust with a point afore : sum botes & no 
spurz, he spurz & no boots, and he neyther nother : one a 
sadel, anoother a pad or a pannell fastened with a cord, for 
gyrts wear geazon :* and theez too the number of a sixteen 

ference to tliis in the mad wedding of Catherine and Petruchip, the latter 
of whom 

Quaff 'd off the muscadel, 
And threw the sops all in the sexton's face. 

The custom, indeed, was universal, from the Prince to the Peasant ; and at 
the marriage of the Elector Palatine to the daughter of James I. ia 1613, we 
are informed by an eye-witness there was, "in conclusion, a joy pronounced 
by the King and Queen, and seconded with congratulation of the Lords there 
present, which crowned with draughts of Ippocras out of a great golden 
bowle, as an health to the prosperity of the marriage (began by the Prince 
Palatine and answered by the Princess.) After M^hich were served up, by six 
or seven Barons, as many bowles filled with wafers, so much of that work was 
consummate." — Keiiilworth Illustrated, App. 16, 17; Nichols, i. 441. 

' See Brand ii. 102-3, and i. 212 (ed. 1841), referring to many authorities, 
and quoting Aubrey, Hasted, etc., and Blount, whose Glossoyraphia (5th ed. 
ed. 1681, 2 years after his death) says " Quintain, a game or sport still in re- 
quest at Marriages, in some parts of this Nation, specially in Shropshire, the 
manner now corruptly [as is clear from Laneham's account] thus : A Quintin, 
Buttress, or thick Plank of Wood is set fast in the ground of the High-way 
where the Bride and Bridegroom are to pass ; and Poles are provided, with 
which the young men run a Tilt on Horse-back ; and he that breaks most 
Poles, and shews most activity, wins the Garland. But Stow, in his Survey 
of London, p. 76, says. That in anno 1253, the youthfuU Citizens, for an exer- 
cise of their activity, set forth a game to run at the Quintin ; and whosoever 
did best, should have a Peacock for prize, etc." Fr. Quintaine : f. A Quin- 
tane (or Whintane) for countrey youthesto runne at. — Cotgrave, a.d. 1611. 

2 Blue bride-laces were worn at weddings, and given to the guests in the 
16th and 17th centm-ies. — FairhoWs Costume in England, p. 520. See examples 
in Ilrand, ii. 81, ed. 1841, from Ben Jonson, Herrick, etc. 

^ See Brand, n. 74 on ' Rosemary and Bays at Weddings.' 

^ Geason, scarce; ' scant and geason.' — 'H.axiisorHs England, p. 236, in HaVi' 
well's Gloss. Geason, an ancient word signifying rare or sccuoe. — fcJce PLillips. 

" And if we speake of Astronomy, 
They will say it is a great lye, 
For they can no other reason ; 



22 Sunday, July 17. The Bride-ale before the Queen. 

wiglit^ i-iding men, and well beseen^ : but tho bridegroom for- 
mostj in liiz fatherz tawny worsted iacket, (for Ms freends 
wear fayn tliat he slioold be a brydegroom before the Queen) 
a fayr strawn^ hat, with a capitall crooun steepl wyze on hiz 
hed : a payr of haruest glouez on hiz hands, az a sign of 
good husbandry : a pen & inkorn at his bak, for he woold 
be knowen to be bookish ; lame of a leg, that in his yooth was 
broken at footbalP : wellbeloued yet of hiz mother, that lent 
him a nu muflfiar for a napkin, that was tyed too hiz gyrdl 
for^ lozyng : It Avas no small sport too marke this minio??- in 
hiz full apointment, that throogh good scoolation becam az 
formall in his action az had he been a bride groom indeed : 
ftp 28 1 with this speciall grace by the wey, that euer az fhe 
woold haue framed him the better countenauns, 
with the woors face he lookt. 

Well, syi% after theez horsmen, a liuely morisdauns^, ac- 

But all tliat knoweth good and better, 

As gentleman that loveth swete and swetter, 

Wisdome witli them is not geason," &c. 

Shepheard's Kalendar, sign A. 66. 
^ active. ^ clad. ib. ^ straw-en, made of straw. 

* See Stubbes's most amusing account of this Sunday-game, in his Anato- 
mie of Abu-^es, p. 184 of Collier's reprint of the 1st ed. 1583 : "as concerning 
football playing, I protest unto you it may rather be called a frendly kinde of 
fight, then a play or recreation ; a bloody and murthering practise, than a 
felowly sporte or pastime. For dooth not every one lye in waight for his ad- 
A'ersarie, seeking to overthrowe him, and to picke [= pitch] him on his nose, 
though it be uppon hard stones ? in ditch or dale, in valley or hil, or what 
place soever it be, hee careth not, so he have him down. And he that can 
serve the most of this fashion, he is counted the only felow ; and who but he ? 
So that by this means, sometimes their backs, sometime their legs, sometime 
their armes ; sometime one part thrust out of jojTit, sometime an other ; some- 
time the noses gush out with blood, sometime theii- eyes start out, and some- 
times hurt in one place, sometimes in another. But whosoever scapeth away 
the best, goeth not scotfree, but is either sore wounded, craised, and bruseed, 
so as he dyeth of it, or els scapeth very hardly. And no mervaile, for they 
have the sleights to meet one betwixt two, to dashe him against the hart with 
their elbowes, to hit him under the short ribbes with their grij^ed fists, and 
with their knees to catch him upon the hip, and to pitch him on his neck, with 
a hundred such mm-dering devices : and hereof groweth envie, malice, ran- 
cour, cholor, hatred, displeasui-e, enmitie, and what not els : and sometimes 
fighting, brawling, contention, quarrel-picking, murther, homicide, and great 
effusion of blood, as experience dayly teacheth. 

" Is this murthering play, now, an exercise for the sabaoth day ? is this a 
Christian dealing, for one brother to majnne and hurt another, and that upon 
prepensed malice or set purpose ? is this to do to another as we would wist 
another to doo to us ? God make us more careful over the bodyes of our 
brethren!" * against, to prevent, losing it. 

* See 'Morris Dancers' in Brand, i. 142-155, ed. 1841. — Blount's GlossO' 
graphia, there quoted, gives only six performers, as against Laneham's eight : 
"Morisco (Span.) a Moor; also a Dance so called, wherein there were usually 



Sunday, July 17. The Bride-ale before the Queen. 23 

cording too the auucient manner, six daunserz, Mawdmarion, 
and the fool. Then, three prety puzels^ az bright az a breast 
of bacon, of a thirtie yeere old^ a pees, that carried three 
speciall spisecakes^ of a bushell of wheat, (they had it by 
meazure oout of my Lord^s backhouse*,) before the Bryde : 
Syzely, with set countenauns, and lips so demurely simpring, 
az it had been a Mare cropping of a thistl. After theez, a 
loouely loober woorts'^, freklfaced, red headed, cleen trust in 
his dooblet & hiz hoze, taken vp now in deed by commission, 
for that hee waz so loth to cum forward, for reuerens (belike) 
of hiz nu cut canuas^ dooblet : & woold by hiz good will haue 
been but a gazer, but found too bee a meet actor for hiz 
offis : that waz, to beare the bridecup, foormed of a sweet 
sucket''' barrell, a faire turnd foot set too it, all seemly be- 
syluerd and parcelP gilt, adourned with a bea [u] tiful braunch 
of broom, gayly begilded for rosemary : from which, too 
brode brydelaces of red and yelloo buckeram begilded, and 
galauntly streaming by such wind az thear fwaz (for hee 
ftp 29 1 carried it aloft :) This gentl cupbearer yet had hiz 
freckld fiznemy sumwhat vnhappily infested, az hee 
went, by the byzy flyez, that floct about the bride cup for 
the sweetnes of the sucket that it sauored on : but hee, like 
a tall fello, withstood their mallis stoutly (see what man- 
hood may do !), bet them away, kild them by scores, stood to 
hiz charge, and marched on in good order. 

five Men, and a Boy dressed in a Girls habit, whom they call the Maid 
Marrion . . . Common people call it a Morris Dance." Brand's quotation, i. 
149, from Cobbe's Froj)hecics, 1614, says that 

. . cheefest of them all, the Foole 
Plaied with a ladle and a toole. 

^ Fr. pticeUe, a maid, virgine ; girle, damsell, mother. — Cotgrave. 

^ Nichols's copy reads ' a thirtie-five yeer old.' 

^ See Brand on Bride-cake, ii. 62-4, cd. 1841. "* bakehouse. 

* Fr. Baligaut : m. An unweldy lubber, great lobcocke, huge luske, mis- 
shapen lowt, ill-favoured flaberguUion. — Cotgrave. ' Loobber woorts, a dull, 
heavj', and useless fellow. The word is probably derived from the Danish 
lubben, gross, or fat, and vorte, a wart or wen. — See WollF. Shakespeare uses 
the latter word somewhat in this sense, when he makes Prince Henry say to 
Falstafi", " I do allow this wen to be as familiar with me as my dog." ' — JSur)i, 
p. 100 ; Nichols, i. 443. 

^ Cp. Laneham's saying of himself, p. 57, below. "I go noow in my sylks, 
that else might ruffl in my cut canues," — poor man's clothes. 

' Suckcts, dried sweet-meats or sugar-plums ; that which is sucked. — Nares : 
see the quotations there, and cp. Fr. dragee any jonkets, comfets, or sweet- 
meats, served in as the last course (or otherwise) for stomake-closere. — Cot- 
grave. 8 partly. — Burn. 



24 Sunday, July 17. Running at the Quintain. 

Then foUoed the worshipfull Bride, led (after the cuntrie 
maner) between too auncient parishionerz, honest toounsmen. 
But a stale stallion^ and a wel spred, (hot az the weather 
waz,) God wot, and an il smelling, waz she : a thirtie^ yeer 
old, of colour brounbay, not very beautifull in deed, but vgly, 
fooul, ill fauord : yet marueyloous fain of the offis, because shee 
hard say shee shoold dauns before the Queen, in which feat 
shee thought shee woold foote it az j&nely az the best : Well, 
after this bride cam thear, by too and too, a dozen damzels 
for bridemaides : that for fauor, attyre, for facion and clean- 
lines, were az meete for such a bride, az a treen^ ladl for a 
porige pot : mo, but for fear of earring all clean, had been 
appointed : but tlieez feaw wear inoow. 
ftp. 30.1 t Az the cumpany in this order wear cum into the 

coourt, maruelous wear the marciall acts that wear 
doon thear that day. 

. The Brydegroome for preeminens had the fyrst 

at ^d^tine. ^^ors at the Quintyne, brake hiz spear tres hardi- 
ment : but his mare in hiz manage did a littl so 
titubate*, that mooch a doo had hiz manhod to sit in his 
sadl, & too scape the foyl of a fall : with the help of his 
band, yet he recoouerd himself, and lost not hiz styrops (for 
he had none too his saddl) : had no hurt, as it hapt, but only 
that hiz gyrt burst, and lost hiz pen & inkorn, that he waz 
redy to wep for. But hiz handkercher, az good hap waz, 
found he safe at his gyrdl : that cheerd him sumwhat, & 
had good regard it shoold not be fyeld. For though heat & 
coolnes vpon sundry occazions made him sumtime too sweat, 
and sumtime rumatick : yet durst he be bollder too bio hiz 
noze, & wype hiz face, with the flapet of his fatherz iacket^, 
then with hiz mothers mufflar ; — tiz a goodly matter, when 
yooth iz manerly brought vp in fatherly looue & motherly aw. 

^ Stallion, a term of reproval, applied to a woman in the Life of Long Bleg 
of Westminster, 1635. Cotgrave's first meaning for Estalon is, ' a Stalion for 
Marcs;' his second meaning 'a stale (as a Larke, etc.) wherewith Fowlers 
traine silly birds unto their destruction.' 

^ Nichols, following a Bodleian copy, reads " thirtie-five." Ed. 1788, i. 19. 

made of tree or wood. 
^ Titubant tripping, stumbling, staggering. — Cotgrave. 
Yf thy nose thou dense, as may befalle, 
Loke thj honde thou dense, as wythe-alle, 
Priuely wit/* skyrt do hit away, 
Other ellis thurghi? thi tepet thai is so gay. 

Boke of Curtasye, ab. 1460 a.d., in Bahces Boole, 
p. 301, 1. 89-92. 



Sunday, July 17. The Quintain and Tournament. 25 

Noow^ syr, after the Brydegroom liad made hiz coorSj ran 
ftp 31 1 ^ ^'®^^ ^^ ^^^® band a fwliyle in sum order, but 
soon after, tag and rag^, cut & long taiP : wliear the 
specialty of the sport waz, to see, how sum for hiz slakness 
had a good bob with the bag^, and sum for his haste too 
toppl dooun right, & cum tumbling to the post : sum stryuing 
so mooch at the first setting oout, that it seemd a question 
betweene the man & the beast, whither the coors shoold 
be made a horsback or a foot : and put foorth with the 
spurz, then wold run hiz race byas* among the thickest of 
the throng, that dooun came they toogyther, hand ouer hed : 
anoother, whyle he directed hiz coors to the quintyne, hiz 
iument^ woold cary him too a mare amoong the pepl : so hiz 
hors az amoroos, az him selfe aduenturoous. Another, too 
run & miss the quintyne with hiz staff, and hit the boord 
with his hed. 

Many such gay gamez wear thear among theez ryderz : 
who by & by after, vpoii a greater coorage, leaft thear quin- 
tining, and ran one at anoother. Thear to see the stearn 
countenauns, the giym looks, the cooragioous attempts, the 
desperat aduejiturez, the daungeroous cooruez^, the feers 
encoounterz, whearby the buff''' at the man, and the coounter- 
rtp. 32 1 ^^^^ ^^ ^-^"^^ hors, that fboth sumtime cam topling to 
the ground. By my trooth. Master Martyn, twaz a 

^ En bloc et en tascJie, one with another, tag and rag, all together. — Cotgrave. 

^ This phrase [cut and long tail'] occurs in the Merry Wives ofWindsor, where 
Slender after the declaration of Shallow, that he shall maintain Ann Page 
like a gentlewoman, says, " Ay, that I will, come cut and lotig-tail, under the 
degree of a squire." It is also foimd in the First Part of the Eighth 
Liberal Science, entitled, " Ars Adulandi," &c, devised and compiled by Ul- 
pian Fulwell 1676, " Yea, even their very dogs, Rug, Eig, and Eisbie, yea, 
cut and long-tailc^ they shall be welcome." Many other instances of the 
usage of this phrase are to be met with in old plays, and it seems probable 
that it originally referred to horses only, which might be denominated cut 
and long-tail, as they were curtailed of this appendage or allowed its full 
growth: and this might be practised according to their value or uses. 
In this view, cut and long-tail, would include the whole species of horses, 
good and bad, and such appears to be the comi^rehensive meaning of the 
jihrase. — Kenilworth Illustrated, App. 19; Nichols, i. 445. 

^ Hung at the other end of the cross-bar of the quintain-pole. 

■* Biais : m. Byas, compasse, aslope, or sloping. — Cotgrave. 

^ stallion ; though Fr. jument is a mare. Lat. jumentum, a beast of burden. 

^ ' curves,' as Mr. linowles suggests ; not for ' courses ;' or from Fr. Corvee, 
Courvee, a daycs worke, due by a Tenant vnto his Lord. II a fait vne grande 
courvee, he hath done a great dayes worke, he hath made a long dayes iourney ; 
or, he hath dispatched the matter with verie much toyle. — Cotgrave. 

7 Buffe : f. A buffet, blow, cufte, boxe, or whirret on the eare, &c. — Col- 
grave. 



26 Sunday, July 17. The Coventry Men's Play. 

liuely pastime ; I beleeue it woold liaue mooued sum mian 
too a right meery mood, thoogli had it be toold him hiz v/ife 
lay a dying. 

Hok Tuis- -^^^ heertoo folloed az good a sport (me thooght) 
day> by the prezented in an historical! ku^, by certain good 
Couentree harted men of Couentree^, my Lordes neighboors 
™™" thear : who, vnderstanding amoong them the thing 

that coold not bee hidden from ony, hoow carefull and stu- 
dious hiz honor waz, that by all pleazaunt recreasions her 
highnes might best fynd her self wellcom, and bee made 
gladsum and mery, (the groundworke indeede, and foundacion, 
of hiz Lordship^s myrth and gladnesse of vs all), made peti- 
tion that they moought renu noow their olid storiall sheaw* : 
Florileg. Of argument, how the Danez whylom heere in a 
li. I. fol. troubloous seazon wear for quietnesse born withall, 
^^^* & suffeard in peas, that anon, by outrage & import- 

abl insolency, abuzing both Ethelred, the king then, and all 
estates euerie whear byside : at the greuoous complaint & 

* See Brand and Ellis's long notes on this custom in their Antiquities, i. 
107-114, ed. 1841. 

* ? style. Cue. From the letter Q, of quando or qualis by which the place 
for a fresh actor's speech was marked. — See Wedgwood, iii. 650. 

3 On the Coventry men's plays, &c. see Thomas Sharpe's "Dissertation on 
the Pageants or Dramatic Mysteries anciently performed at Coventry by the 
Trading Companies of that City &c. " 1825 ; and " the Coventry Mysteries," 
edited for the Shakspere Society by Mr. Halliwell, 1841. 'Previous to the 
suppression of the English Monasteries, the City of Coventry was particu- 
larly famed for the pageants which were performed in it on the 14th of June, 
or Corpus- Christi day. This appears to have been one of the ancient fairs ; 
and the Grey Friars, or Friars Minors, of that City, had, as Dugdale relates, 
" Theatres for the several scenes very large and high, placed upon wheels, 
and drawn to all the eminent parts of the city, for the better advantage of 
the spectators ; and contained the story of the Old and New Testament, com- 
posed in the Old English rhyme." Coventry appears to have derived great 
benefit from the numbers of persons who came to visit these Pageants.' — 
Burn, p. 101 ; Nichols, i. 446. 

* 'The origin of this once popular holiday, called Hoke-daj'-, Hoke-tuesday, or 
Hoke-tide, is involved in considerable obscurity. By some writers it is supposed 
to be commemorative of the massacre of the Danes in the reign of Etheked, on 
the 13th of November, 1002 ; whilst by others, the deliverance of the English 
from the tyranny of the Danes, by the death of Hardicanute, on Tuesday the 
8th of June, 1042, is pointed out as its origin. Our author adopts the former 
hypothesis, though the weight of argument preponderates in favour of the 
national deliverance by Hardicanute' s death; and it must not be forgotten 
that the festival was celebrated on a Tuesday, and that Hoke-tuesday was 
the Tuesday in the second week after Easter. Various conjectures have been 
offered respecting the etymology of the word Hoke. Lambard imagined it to 
be a corruption of Suextyde, the time of scorning or mocking. Bryant pre- 
fers Hock, high, apprehending that Sock-day means no more than a high day; 
but Mr. Denne, in a very learned memoir upon this subject, printed in the 



Sunday, July 17. The Coventry Men's Play. 27 

coounsell of Huna, the king's cliieftain in warz^ on Saint 
r. 33 -1 Brices night, Ann. Doin. 1012.^ t(Az the book sayz) 
that falleth yeerely on the thirteenth of Nouem- 
ber, wear all dispatoht, and the Ream rid. And for becauz 
the matter mencioneth how valiantly our English women for 
looue of their cuntree behaued themseluez : expressed in 
actionz & rymez after their maner, they thought it moought 
mooue sum myrth to her Maiestie the rather. 

The thing, said they, iz grounded on story, and for pastime 
woont too bee plaid in oour Citee yeerely : without ill ex- 
ampl of mannerz, papistry, or ony superstition : and elz did 
so occupy the heads of a number, that likely inoough woold 
haue had woorz meditationz : had an auncient beginning, and 
a long continuauns : tyll noow of late laid dooun, they knu 
no cauz why, onless it wear by the zeal of certain theyr 
Preacherz^ : men very commendabl for their behauiour and 
learning, & sweet in their sermons, but sumwhat too sour 
in preaching awey theyr pastime^ : wisht therefore, that az 
they shoold continu their good doctrine in pulpet, so, for 
matters of pollioy & gouernauns of the Citie, they woold per- 

Archseologia, vol. vii. p. 244, &c., adopts Spelman's derivation of the term 
from the German Hocken, in reference to the practice of binding, which was 
formerly practised by the women upon the men upon Hoke-tuesday ; though 
he considers this as metaphorical, and that the German word for marriage, or 
a wedding-feast, Hock-zeit, is more immediately applicable, because it was at 
the weddmg feast of a Danish Lord, with the daughter of a Saxon Nobleman, 
that Hardicanute died suddenly, not without suspicion of being poisoned. — 
Nichols, i. 446. 

^ More correctly 1002. — Kenilworth Illustrated, 20 ; Nichols. 

2 Compare Stubbes's chapter ' Of Stage-play es and Enterludes, with their 
wickednes,' Anatomie, p. 134-141 ; Northbrooke's Treatise on Dicing, Dan- 
cing, Plays and Interludes, &c., 1577, a.d. (Shaksp. Soc. 1843), &c. &c. 

3 While the Catholic Eeligion was the established faith of England, there 
were, in connection with it, many public amusements and festivals, by which 
all the orders of society were entertained ; such as the performance of Morali- 
ties or sacred plays, popular customs to be observed on certain vigils and 
Saints' days, and the keeping of the many holidays enjoined by the Romish 
Calendar, in the pastimes common to the lower classes. In the commencement 
of most reformations in society, it is common to find the reverse of wrong as- 
sumed for right ; and hence the Puritans, who increased rapidly after the 
English Reformation, not only banished all those festivals and customs pecu- 
liar to the Catholic religion, but also violently declaimed against popular 
pastimes, innocent in themselves, but condemned by them because they had 
existed in former times. This illiberal spirit of denouncing public amuse- 
ments, was, however, not without some opposition ; Randolph severely at- 
tacked "the sanctified fraternity of Blackfriars," in his "Muses Looking 
Glass," and Ben Jonson scarcely ever let them pass without some satirical 
remark. In the Monologue, or " Masque of Owls," the latter of which, as it 
was performed at Kenilworth, in the Reign of Charles I., is most to the pre- 



28 Sunday, July 17. Captain Cox of Coventry. 

mifc tliem to tlie Mair and Magistratez : and seyed^ by my 
rtp- 34-1 ^^y^^' Master Martyn, tliey fwoold make theyr 
liumbl peticion vntoo her liig-lmes^ that they might 
haue theyr playz vp agayn. 

Ccaptain But aware, keep bak, make room noow, heer they 

^o^- cum ! And fyrst, captin Cox, an od man I promiz yoo : 

by profession a Mason, and that right skilful!, very cunning 

sent purpose ; the third owl is intended to represent a Puritan of Coventry, 
one of those who contributed to put down the Coventry plays, and is thus de- 
scribed : — 

Hey Owl Third. 



' A pure native bird 
This, and though his hue 
Be Coventry blue, 
Yet is he undone 
By the thread he has spun ; 
For since the wise town 
Has let the sports down 
Of May-games and Morris, 
For which he right sorry is ; 
Where their maids and their makes, 



At dancings and wakes. 
Had then- napkins and posies. 
And the wipers for their noses. 
And their smocks all-be-wrought 
"With his thread which they bought ; 
It now lies on his hands. 
And having neither wit or lands, 
Is ready to hang or choke him, 
In a skein of that that broke him." 



From the above keen satire may be gathered, that in abolishing of the Co- 
ventry Pageants, the trade of that City sufl'crod considerably. The chief 
staple of the place was the manufactory of blue thread, of which a great con- 
sumption was formerly made in the embroidering of scarfs and napkins. But 
beside the decay of trade in Coventry, occasioned by the loss of the Pageants, 
the unpatriotic taste for articles of foreign production, was also of considerable 
detriment to that, as well as to the other manufacturing Towns of England. 
In a very rare tract, entitled, " A Briefe Conceipte of English PoUicye," 
Lond. 1681, with the initials W. S., and ascribed to Shakspearc, but in reality 
written by W. Stafford, there are the following passages concerning the effect 
of this destructive fashion upon the staple of Coventry : and as they tend so 
particularly to illustrate the period of the Kenilworth pageants, and Lane- 
ham's own manners, which were so strongly tinctured with foreign fopperies, 
it is presumed that their insertion will not be unacceptable to the reader : (fo. 
48) " I will tell you : while men were contented with such as were made in the 
market-townes next vnto them, then were they of our Townes & Cities well 
set a worke : as I knewe the time when men were content with Cappes, Ilattes, 
Gyrdcls, and Poyntes, and all manner of garmentes made in the townes next 
aciioyning, whereby the Townes were then well occupied and set a woi-ke, and 
yet the money payd for the same stuff"e remayned in the coimtrey. Now, the 
poorest younge man in a countrey cannot be content with a lethor gyrdle, or 
lether poyntes, Kniucs or Daggers, made nigh home. And specially no Gen- 
tleman can be contente to haue eyther Cappe, Cote, Dublet, Hose, or shyrte, 
in his countrey, but they must haue this geare come ivom Lowdon ; and yet 
many thinges hereof are not there made, but beyowd the sea : whereby the 
artificers of our good to^sTies are idle, and the occupations in London, and 
specially of the townes beyond the seaes, are well set a worke euen vpon our 
costes. . . (f. 49) I haue heard say that the chiefe trade of Couentry was hereto- 
fore in making of blewe threde, and then the towne was riche euen vjjon that 
trade in manner onely ; and now our thredde comes all from beyond Sea. 
Wherefore that trade of Couentry is decaied, and thereby the towne likewise." 
{fol. 49). — In consequence, therefore, of the desire for foreign articles of dress 



July 17. Captain Conn's Story-books. 29 

in fens, and hardy az Gawin ; for liiz tonsword^ hangs at his 
tablz ecnd : great ouersight hath he in matters of storie : 
For, az for king Arthurz book^, Huow of Burdoaus, The foour 

and ornament, England, which had hoon hitherto in a great measure supplied 
from her own resources, became about the close of the 16th. century iilled with 
manufactures which wore imported from the Continent ; while at the same 
time the most important British productions were exchanged for what, in 
a commercial sense, might bo considered only as superfluities. This, also, 
is very forcibly hinted at in the pamphlet before quoted, in the following 
manner : — " And I maruell no man takes heede to it, what number first of 
trifles comes bother from beyond the sea, that wee might either cloano spare, 
or els make them within our realme, for the whicb wee either pay inestimable 
treasm-e euery yero, or else exchaunge substantiall wares and necessary, for 
them, for the which wo might receaue great treasure. Of tho which sort I 
meane as well looking-glasses as drinking, and also to glazo windowcs, Diallos, 
Tables, Gardes, Balles, Puppettes, Penners [pen-cases], Inkehorns, Toothe- 
picks, Gloues, Kniues, Dagges, Owches [jewels or ornaments], Brouches, 
Agglettes [the metal ends of tags or laces], liiittons of sillce «& siluer. 
Earthen pots, Pinnes and Pointes, Hawlvos belles. Paper both wliite and 
brownc, and a thousand like thinges that might either be cleane spared, or 
els made within the realme, sulficient for vs : and as for some thinges, they 
make it of our owne commodities, and send it vs againo, whereby they set 
their people a worke, and doe exhauste much treasure out of this llealme : as, 
of our well they make Clothes, Cappes, and Kersois ; of our folles [hides] they 
make Spanish skins, Gloues, and Girdels ; of our Tinne, Saltsellers, Spoones, 
and Dishes ; of our broken Linnen, clothes and ragges. Paper both white and 
browne. What Treasure (thinke yee) goes out of this Realme for euery of 
these thinges ? and then for all together, it exceedes myno estimation. There 
is no man that can be contented now with any other Glouos than be made in 
Fraunce or in Spayne ; nor Kersie, but it must bo of Flaunders die ; nor 
Cloth, but French, or Fryseadowe ; nor Ouche, Brooch, or Agglet, but of 
Venice making, or Millen ; nor Dagger, Swearde, Knife, or Gyrdle, but of 
Spanish making, or some outward countrey ; no, not as much as a Spurre, but 
that is fetched at the Millener. I haue heard within these xl. years, when 
there were not of these Haberdashers that selles French or Millen Cappes, 
Glasses, Kniues, Daggers, Swordes, Gyrdels, and such thinges, not a dosen in 
all London : & now from the Tower to Westminster alonge, euery streate is 
full of them ; and their shoppes glitter and shyno of Glasses, as well drynking 
as looking, yea, all manner of vessel of the same stufl'e : paynted Cruses, gaye 
Daggers, Knyucs, Swordes, and Gyrdels, that it is able to make any towiperate 
man to gase on them, and to buy somewhat, though it serue to no purpose 
necessarie." — Burn, p. 101-4; Nichols, i. 447-449. (Corrected by /Stafford. 
'Fol. 25. I shall re-edit the book for the E. E. Text Sec. in a year or two.) 

* " Perhaps a one-handed sword, fi-om ton the one (see p. 37), guesses Nares, 
who says he has not found the word anywhere else than in this tractt, hero, 
and on page 31. Bui-n (p. lOG), more probably, makes it a largo two- 
handed sword. See Preface. ' In the account of expenses by the Drapers' 
Company in Coventry on Midsummer night, 1657, occur, fifteen gunners, a 
flag-bearer, flute, drum, and a " wysscler." There is also the following Item, 
"payd for a long-sivordc and the skouiyng, xijd." which long sword was evi- 
dently for the person marshalling or commanding the fifteen gunners, and 
seems to be exactly analogous to the tonnword of Captain Cox." — Kenilivorth 
Illustrated, App. 22; Nichols, i. 451. 

- For notes on all this and the following names of books, ballads, etc., see 
the Forewords. 



30 July 17. Captain Cox's Story-books and Ballads. 

suns of Aymon, Beuys of Hampton, The squyre of lo degree, 
The knight of courtesy, and the Lady Faguell, Frederik of 
Gene, Syr Eglamoour, Sir Tryamoour, Sir Lamwell, Syr 
Isenbras, Syr Gawyn, Olyuer of the Castl, Lucres and Eu- 
rialus^, VirgiFs life. The castle of Ladiez, The wide Bdyth, 
The King & the Tanner, Frier Rous, Howleglas, Gargantua, 
Robinhood, Adambel, Clim of the clough, & William of 
Cloudesley, The Churl & the Burd, The seauen wise Masters, 
The wife lapt in a Morel's skin, The sak full of nuez. The 
seargeaunt that became a Fryar, Skogan, Collyn cloout. 
The Fryar & the boy, Elynor Rumming, and the Nutbrooun 
r , gg -] maid, with many moe fthen I rehearz heere : I be- 
leeue hee haue them all at hiz fingers endz. 
Then, in Philosophy, both morall & naturall, I think he 
be az naturally ouerseen- : beside poetrie and Astronomic, 
and oother hid sciencez, as I may gesse by the omberty' of 
hiz books : whearof part az I remember, the Sheperdz kalen- 
der. The Ship of Foolz, Danielz dreamz, the booke of For- 
tune, Starts puer ad mensam, the hy wey to the Spitlhouse, 
lulian of Brainford's testament, the castle of Loue, thebooget 
of Demaunds, the hundred Mery talez, the book of Riddels, 
the Seauen sororz of wemen, the prooud wiues Pater noster, 
the Chapman of a peniwoorth of Wit : Beside hiz auncient 
playz, Yooth & charitee, Hikskorner, Nugize, Impacient 
pouerty ; and heerwith, doctor Boord's breuiary of health. 
What shoold I rehearz heer, what a bunch of ballets & songs, 
all auncient : Az Broom broom on hil. So wo iz me begon, 
troly lo. Ouer a whinny Meg. Hey ding a ding. Bony 
lass vpon a green. My bony on gaue me a bek. By a 
bank az I lay : and a hundred more, he hath, fair wrapt vp 
in Parchment, and bound with a whipcord, 
r . Qg -1 And az for Allmanaks of antiquitee, (a fpoint for 

Ephemerides) I weene hee can sheaw from lasper 
Laet of Antwarp vnto Nostradam of Frauns, and thens vnto 
oour John Securiz of Salsbury. To stay ye no longer heerin, 
I dare say hee hath az fair a library for theez sciencez, & 
az many goodly monuments both in proze & poetry, & at 



1 Nichols reads ' Curialus,' ed. 1788, vol. i. p. 23. 

" Well-read, leai-ned : cp. Fr. retraicter, to revise, peruse, overlook, oversee, 
run over. — Cotgrave. 

3 ? shadowing. Cp. ' coming events cast their shadows before ;' and Fr. 
Vn poll fait ombre : Prov. A haire makes a shadow ; the smallest things 
haue their shadows ; viz. their vse, or some ornament. — Cotgrave. 



Sunday, July 1 7. Capt. Cox, and the Coventry Men's Play. 31 

affcernoonz can talk az much without book, az ony Inholder 
betwixt Brainford^ and Bagsliot, what degree soeuer lie be. 

Beside thiz, in the field a good Marshall at musters" : of 
very great credite & trust in the toun hear, for he haz been 
choze7i Alecurmer^ many a yeere, when hiz betterz haue 
stond by : & euer quited himself with such estimation, az 
yet too the tast of a cup of Nippitate^, his iudgement will be 
taken aboue the best in the parish, be hiz noze near so 
read. 

Captain Cox cam marching on valiantly before, cleen 
trust, & gartered aboue the knee, all fresh in a veluet cap 
(master Goldingha?J^^ lent it him) floorishing with hiz ton- 
swoord, and another fensmaster with him : thus in the fore- 
ward making room for the rest. After them proudly prickt 
on formost, the Danish launsknights^ on horsbak, and then 
the English : each with their allder fpoll marcially in their 
hand. Eeuen at the first entree the meeting waxt 
Ltp- 7.J sumwhat warm : that by and by kindled with 
The Couen- gQ^jj^gQ ^ both sidez, gru from a hot skirmish vnto 
a blazing battail : first by speare and shield, out- 
ragious in their racez az ramz at their rut'^, with furious 
encoounterz, that togyther they tumbl too the dust, sumtime 
hors and man : and after fall too it with sworde & target, 
good bangz a both sidez : the fight so ceassing ; but the bat- 
tail not so ended : folloed the footmen, both the hostez, ton 
after toother : first marching in ranks : then warlik turning, 
the?! from ranks into squadrons, then in too trianglz ; from 

^ Brentford in Middlesex, and Bagshot in Surrey, are both on the South- 
Western road from London. What can have made Laneham quote them here ? 

2 See Notes at the end. 

3 Ale-conner or Ale-taster, an Officer appointed in every Court-Leet, and 
Sworn to look to the Assize and Goodness of Bread, Ale and Beer, sold -within 
the Jurisdiction of the Leet. — Kersey's Phillips, a.d. 1706. 

* See note on Arion, p. 34, in Notes at the end. 

5 Stubbes, in his Anatomie of Abuses, 1595, describing the excesses at 
Church-ales, on which occasion he says ten or twenty quarters of malt is fre- 
quently made into very strong ale or beer; adds, "Then, when this nippita- 
tum, this huffe-cappe, as they call it, this nectar of life, is set abroach, well is 
ho that can get the soonest to it, and spend the most at it ; for he is counted 
the godliest man of all the rest, and most in God's favour, because it is spent 
upon his Church forsooth." May not the terms nappy-ale and brown-nappy, be 
derived fi'om this origin? — ICeitilworfh Illustrated, App. 23; Nichols, i. 455. 
See Notes at the end. 

8 Dan. lantse a lance, knegt a knight ; Germ, lands-lmecht a foot-soldier. — 
Ludwig. 

7 Fr. ruit : m. The rut of Deere or Bores ; their lust ; and the season 
wherein they ingender.— Co/^y^flw. 



32 Sunday. A Sham-Fight, Bride-ale, Play and Banquet. 

that intoo rings^ & so winding oout again : A valiant cap- 
tain of great prowez^ az fiers az a fox assauting a gooz, waz 
so hardy to giue the first stroke : then get they grisly to- 
gyther : that great waz the actiuitee that day too be seen 
thear a both sidez : ton very eager for purchaz^ of pray, 
toother vtterly stoout for redemption of libertie : thus, 
quarrell enflamed fury a both sidez. Twise the Danes had 
the better ; but at the last conflict, beaten doun, ouercom, 
and many led captiue for triumph by our English weemen. 
r , gg -1 This waz the effect of this sheaw, that, faz it waz 

handled, made mooch matter of good pastime : 
brought all indeed intoo the great court, een vnder her 
highnes windo too haue been seen : but (az vnhappy it waz 
for the bride) that cam thither too soon, (and yet waz it a 
four a clok). For her highnes beholding in the chamber de- 
lectabl dauncing indeed : and heerwith the great throng 
and vnrulines of the people, waz cauz that this solemnitee of 
Brideale & dauncing, had not the full muster waz hoped for : 
and but a littl of the Couentree plea her highnes also saw : 
commaunded thearfore on the Tuisday folloing to haue it ful 
oout : az accordingly it waz prezented, whearat her Maies- 
tie laught well : they wear the iocunder, and so mooch the 
more becauz her highnes had giuen them too buckes, and 
fine marke in mony, to make mery togyther : they prayed 
for her Maiesty, long, happily to reign, & oft to cum thither, 
that oft they moought see heer : & what, reioycing vpon 
their ampl reward, and what, triumphing vpon the good ac- 
ceptauns, they vaunted their plaj'^ waz neuer so dignified, 
nor euer any players afore so beatified. 

r , gg -] Thus though the day took an eend, yet fslipt 

not the night all sleeping awey : for az neyther 
offis nor obsequy ceassed at any tyme too the full, to per- 
form the plot hiz honor had appoynted : So, after supper 
waz thear a play prezented of a very good theam, but so set 
foorth by the Actoourz wel handling, that pleazure & mirth 
made it seeme very short, though it lasted too good ooarz 
and more. But stay, master Martyn, all iz not doon yet. 

After the play oout of hand, foUoed a most delicioouz and 
(if I may so terme it) an Ambrosiall Banket : whearof, 
whither I myght more muze at the deintynesse, shapez and 
the cost : or els at the variete & number of the disshez (that 

' Fr. pourchas, eager pui-suit, earnest chace after (Cotgrave) and so, gain, 
getting, securing. 




Entrance to the Banqueting Hall, Kenilworth Castle. 



Monday, July \^. A Stag-hunt. Triton on a Mermaid. 33 

wear a three hundred), for my part I coold littl tel them, 
and noow less, I assure yoo. Her Maiesty eat smally or no- 
thing : which vnderstood, the coorsez wear not so orderly 
serued, & sizely set dooun, but wear by and by az disorderly 
wasted & coorsly consumed ; more courtly^, me thought, then 
curteously. But that was no part of the matter : moought it 
pleaz and be liked, & do that it cam for, then waz all well 
inough. 

Vntoo this banket thear waz appoynted a mask : for 
rt 40 1 riches of aray, of an incrediblf cost : but the time 
so far spent, and very late in the night noow, waz 
cauz that it cam not foorth to the sheaw. And thus for Son- 
dayz seazon hauing stayd yoo the longer (according too the 
matter) heer make I an eend : ye maye breath yee a while. 
Munda 10 Munday, the eyghteenth of this luly, the weather 
being hot, her highnes kept the Castl for coolness, 
till aboout fine a clok her Maiesty in the Chase hunted the 
hart (az afore) of fors : that, whyther wear it by the cunning 
Psal 24 ^^ *^® huntsmen, or by the naturall desyre of the 
Deer, or els by both : anon he gat him too soyP 
agayne, which reyzed the accustomed delight : a pastime 
indeede so intyrely pleazaunt, az whearof at times whoo 
may haue the ful and free fruition, can find no more sacie- 
tee (I ween) for a recreation, then of theyr good viaundes 
at timez for their sustentation. 

Well, the game waz gotten : and her highnes returning, 
cam thear vppon a swimming Mermayd (that from top too 
tayl waz an eyghteen foot long,) Triton, Neptunes blaster : 
Triton. whoo, with hiz trumpet foormed of a wrinkld wealk, 
[tp. 41.] az her Maiestyf waz in sight, gaue soound very 
shrill & sonoroous, in sign he had an ambassy too pronoouns : 
anon her highnes waz cummen vpon the bridge, whearunto 
he made hiz fish to swim the swifter, and he then declared^ : 
" how the supreame salsipotent* Monarch Neptune, the great 



* Compare, in Russell's Book of Nurture, Babees Book, p. 163, the caution to 
the officers to look out that no dish of a course is stolen, 1. 180 ; and the note 
there from Household Ordinances, p. 45, that Edw. IV's Siirveyor is to see 
that ' of every messe that cummyth from the dressing hourde . . thereof he 
nothing withdrawn hy the squires.' 

2 took to the water. Fr. batre les eaux, a Deere to take soyle. — Cotgrave. 

3 See Notes at the end. 

* An epithet derived from the Latin salsipotens, which signifies one who 
has power over the salt seas ; in which sense it is used by Plautus. — Ains' 
worth, in Burn. 

D 



34 Monday, July \^. The Queen frees the Lady of the Lake. 

God of the swelling seaz, Prins of profunditees, and Soouer- 
ain Segnior of al Lakez, freshwaterz, Eiuerz, Creekes, & 
Goolphs : vnderstanding how a cruel Knight, one syr Bruse 
sauns pitee^j a mortall enmy vntoo Ladiez of estate, had long 
lyen about the banks of this pooU, in wayt with his bawds 
heer to distress the Lady of the lake, whearby she hath been 
restrayned not only from hauing any vse of her ancient 
liberty and territoriez in theez parts, but also of making 
repayr & giumg attewdauns vnto yoo, nobl Queen, (qd. he) az 
she woold, shee promist, and allso shoold : dooth thearfore 
signify : and heerto, of yoo, az of hiz good leag and deer 
freend, make this request, that ye will deyn but too sheaw 
yoor parson toward this pool, whearby yoor only prezens 
shallbe matter sufficient of abandoning this vncurtess knight, 
and putting all his bands too flight, & also of deliuerauns 
r . ^2 -1 of tthe lady oout of this thralldom." Moouing heer- 

with from the bridge, & fleeting more intoo the 
pool, chargeth he in Neptunes name : both Eolus with al his 
windez, the waters with hiz springs, hiz fysh & fooul, and 
all his clients in the same, that they ne be so hardye in any 
fors too stur, but keep them calm & quiet while this Queen 
be prezent. At which petition her highnes staying, it ap- 
peerd straight hoow syr Bruse became vnseen, his bands 
skaled^, and the Lady by and by, with her too Nymphs, flot- 
ing vpon her moouable Hands (Triton on hiz mermaid 
skimming by,) approched toward her highnes on the bridge : 
az well too declare that her Maiestiez prezens hath so graci- 
ouslye thus wi'ought her deliuerauns, az allso to excuze her 
not comming to coourt az she promist, and cheefly to pre- 
zent her Maiesty (az a token of her duty & good hart) 
for her highness recreation, with thiz gift, which was Arion^, 
that excelle?it & famouz Muzicien, in tyre & appointment 
straunge well seeming too hiz parson, ryding aloffce vpon 
hiz olid freend the Dolphin, (that from hed to tayl waz a 
Ftp 43 1 foo^^ ^ twenty foot long) & swymd hard by theez 

Hands : f^eerwith Arion, for theez great benefitez, 
after a feaw well coouched words vntoo her Maiesty of 
thanksgyuing, in supplement of the same, beegaw a de- 

' See Notes at the end. 

2 skedaddled ? ' S/cale, to scatter, in haymaking, is still used transitively 
in Cumherland.' — U. H. Knowles. 

^ See the note on Goldingham from Ken. III. p. 25 ; and Nichols, i. 458, in 
Notes at the end. 



July 18. Music from the Dolphin. Knights made. 35 

lectabl ditty of a song^ wel apted too a melodious noiz^, 
compoounded of six seuerall instruments al coouert, cast- 
ing soouw-d from the Dolphin's belly within; Arion, the 
seauenth, sitting thus singing (az I say) withoout. 

Noow syr, the ditty in miter so aptly endighted to the 
matter, and after by voys so delicioously deliuerd : the song 
by a skilful artist intoo hiz parts so sweetly sorted : each 
part in hiz instrument so clean & sharpely toouched, euery 
instrument again in hiz kind so excellently tunabl : and this 
in the eeu[en]ing of the day, resoounding from the callm 
waters : whear prezens of her Maiesty, & longing too listen, 
had vtterly damped all noyz & dyn ; the hole armony conueyd 
in tyme, tune, & temper, thus incomparably melodious : with 
what pleazure (Master Martin), with what sharpnes of con- 
ceyt, with what lyuely delighte, this moought pears into the 
heerers harts, I pray ye imagin yoor self az ye may ; for, so 
God iudge me, by all the wit & cunning I haue, I cawnot ex- 
r , ^^ -1 press, I promis yoo. Mais -fieo bien vieu cela, Mon- 
seur, que forte grande est la pouuoyr qu'auoit la 
tresnohle Science cle Musique sur les esprites humains : per- 
ceiue ye me ? I haue told ye a great matter noow. As for 
me, surely I was lulld in such liking, & so loth too leaue of, 
that mooch a doo, a good while after, had I, to fynde me 
whear I waz. And take ye this by the way, that for the 
smal skyl in muzik that God hath sent me, (ye kno it iz 
sumwhat,) ile set the more by my self while my name .iz 
Laneham, and grace a God. A ! muzik iz a nobl Art ! 

A ! stay a while ! see a short wit : by my trooth I had 
almost forgot. This daye waz a day of grace beside, whearin 
wear auaunced fyue gentlemen of woorshippe vnto the de- 
gree of knighthood : Sir Thomas Cecyl, sun & heyr 
made ^ vntoo the right honorabl the Lord Treazorer ; Syr 
Henry Cobham, broother vnto the Lord Cobham; 
Syr Thomas Stanhop, Syr Arthur Basset, and Syr Thomas 
Tresham : and allso, by her highnes accustumed mercy & 
charitee, nyne cured of the peynfull and daungerous diseaz, 
called the kings euill ; for that Kings & Queenz of this Eealm, 
Ftp. 45.1 withoout oother medsin (saue only by fhandling & 
prayerz), only doo cure it : bear with me, though 
perchauns I place not thoz Gentlmen in my recitall heer, 

' In Gascoigne's account the song is given, but Protheus is the character 
instead of Avion, which is apparently an error. — Nichols, i. 458 ; Ken. III. p. 
25, note 3. ^ i noiz ' = noise — a company, or band, of musicians. — W. C, 

D 2 



36 July 19,20. The Coventry Play. The Device of Gods etc. 

after theyr estatez : for I am neyther good heraud of armez, 
nor yet kno lioow they are set in tlie Subsydy bookez. 
Men of great woorsliip I vnderstand they are all. 
Tuisdav 11 Tuisday, according to commaun dement, cam 
oour Couentree men : what their matter waz, of her 
highnes myrth and good acceptauns, and rewarde vntoo 
them, and of their reioysing thearat, I sheawd you afore, 
and so say the less noow. 

"Wedns 12 Wednesday in the forenoon, preparacion was in 
hand for her Maiesty too haue supt in Wedgenall, 
a three myle west from the Castl. A goodly park of the 
Queenz Maiestyez^ : for that cauz, a fayr Pauilion, and other 
prouision accordingly thither sent & prepared : but by meanz 
of weather not so cleerly dispozed, the matter waz counter- 
maunded again. That had her highnes hapned this daye too 
haue cummen abrode : there was made reddy a deuise of 
Goddessez & Nymphes^: which, az well for the ingenious ar- 
gument, az for the wel handling of it in rime & endighting, 
ftp 46 1 woold vndooutedly haue gaind great lyking, & 
mooned no less delight. Of the particulariteez, 
whearof, I ceas to entreat : least, like the boongling car- 
pentar, by missorting the peecez, I mar a good frame in 
the bad setting vp, or by my fond tempring afore hand em- 
bleamish the beauty, when it shoold be reard vp in deede. 

A this day allso waz thear such earnest tallk & appoint- 
ment of remoouing, that I gaue ouer my noting, and barkened 
after my hors. 

Mary, syr, I must tell yoo : Az all endeuoour waz too mooue 
mirth & pastime (az I tolld ye) : eeuen so a ridiculoous de- 
uise of an auncient minstrell & hiz song waz prepared to 
haue been profierd, if meet time & place had been foound 
for it. 0ns in a woorshipfull company, whear, full appointed, 
he recoounted his matter in sort az it shoould haue been 
vttred, I chaunsed too be : what I noted, heer thus I tel 
yoo : A parson very meet seemed he for the purpoze, of a 
xlv.^ yeers olid, apparelled partly as he woold himself. Hiz 



* The Duchess of Portland's copy reads " a ^-oodly park of the right honour- 
ahle my very good Lord the Earl of Warwick." It still belongs to that noble 
family, and is now called Wedgnock Park. — Nichols's Progresses, 1788, vol. i. 
p. 29. 

2 See Notes at the end. 

2 The Duchess of Portland's copy reads "xiv." — Nichols, ed. 1788, vol. i. 
p. 30. 



The auncient Minsirell described. 37 

cap of : his hed seemly roounded tonster wyze^ : fayr kemb, 
that with a spoonge deintly dipt in a Httl capons greaz was 
rtp 47 1 fiii^ly smoothed too make fit shine like a Mallard's 
wing. Hiz beard smugly shauen : and yet hiz 
shyrt after the nu trink^^ with rufi's fayr starched^ sleeked, 
and glistering like a payr of nu shooz : marshalld in good 
order : wyth a stetting stick, and stoout, that euery ruff stood 
vp like a wafer : a side gooun of kendall green, after the 
freshnes of the yeer noow, gathered at the neck with a 
narro gorget, fastened afore with a white clasp and a keepar 
close vp to the chin : but easily for heat too vndoo when he 
list : Seemly begyrt in a red caddiz^ gyi'dl : from that a payr 

' Fr. tondre, to slieere, clip, cut, powle, nott, pare round. — Cotgrave. 

2 ? trick, fashion. 

3 Caddis, worsted, such as is now termed cruell, used for the ornament of the 
dresses of servants and the lower classes in the 16th century. Oaddis garters 
are mentioned by writers of that era as worn by country folks. — Fairholt's 
Costume in England.— ^'■Th.is description of the minstrel's dress is particularly 
valuable, as it gives a highly-finished portrait of a class of men long since en- 
tirely extinct ; and therefore, as many parts of the costume alluded to in the 
text are now unknown, it will form an interesting note to consider over and 
to explain them. The person mentioned is stated to have resembled "a 
Squire IVIinstrel of Middlesex ;" and from this Dr. Percy supposes, that "there 
were other inferior orders, as yeomen minstrels, or the like." Philip Stubbes, 
in his " Anatomy of Abuses," 1595, gives a particular detail of the Ruff, which 
is the jBrst part of the minstrel's dress mentioned in the text. From this it 
may be learned, that a setting stick, also alluded to, was an instrument made 
either of wood or bone for laying the plaits of the ruff in proper form. " A 
side gown of Kendal green," was a long hanging robe of coarse green woollen 
cloth or baize, for the manufacture of which the town of Kendal in Westmore- 
land was very anciently celebrated. From Stafford's tract already cited (p. 28), 
it would appear that this cloth -was appropriated to servants ; as he there says, 
" For I know when a Seruingman was cowtent to go in a Kendall coate in 
Sommer, and a frise coate in winter ; and with a plaine white hose made meete 
for his body; And with a piece of biefe, or some other dishe of sodden meate, all 
the weeke longe. Now he will looke to haue at the least for sommer, a coate of 
the finest cloth that may bee gotten for money, and his Hosen of the finest 
Kersey, and that of some straung die, as Flaunders die or French puke, that 
a Prince or great Lord can weare no finer if he weare cloth." {Fol. 33 b.) The 
mantle of Kendal-green, Laneham proceeds to state, was gathered at the neck 
with a narrow gorget, or collar. The gorget, which literally signifies a throat- 
piece, was originally a part of the female dress, and consisted of a long piece of 
cloth, or other stuff, wrapped several times about the neck, raised on either side 
the face, and secured in the front by long pins driven into the folds. The 
white clasp and keeper were probably formed of pewter, as the words " white 
metal " are often used in this sense in the writers of Laneham' s period. A 
red Caddis girdle was one of those Spanish manufactures of which Stafford so 
much complains ; they derived their name from being made at the city of 
Cadiz in Spain, out of the feUs or untanned hides, which were sent from Eng- 
land to be formed into skina of Spanish leather. To this girdle hung, as 
usual, a pair of Sheffield knives, capped, or placed within a case ; for as the use 
of forks was not known in England till about the year 1610, knives, for com- 



38 The auncient Minstrell described. 

of capped Sheffeld kniuez^ hanging a to side : Out of hiz 
bozome drawne foorth a lappet of his napkin, edged with a 
bin lacOj & marked with a trulooae^, a hart, and A. D. for 
Damian : for he was but a bachelar yet. 

Hiz gooun had syde^ sleeuez dooun to midlegge, slit from 
the shooulder too the hand, & lined with white cotten. Hiz 
doobled sleeuez of blak woorsted, vpon them a* payr of 
poynets^ of towny Chamblet^ laced a long the wreast wyth 
blu threeden points, a wealt toward the hand of fustian 
anapes v' a payr of red neatherstocks : a pair of pumps on 
hiz feet, with a cross cut at the toze for cornz : not nu in- 
rtp. 48.1 <^6ede, yet cleanly fhlakt with soot, & shining az a 
shoing horn. 

Aboout hiz nek a red rebond sutable too hiz girdl : hiz 
harp in good grace dependaunt before him : hiz wreast^ tyed 
to a green lace, and hanging by : vnder the gorget of hiz 
gooun a fair flagon cheyn, (pewter, for) siluer, az a squier 
minstrel of Middilsex^, that trauaild the cuntree this soommer 
seazon vnto fairz & worshipfull mens hoousez : from hiz 
chein hoong a Schoochion, with mettall & cooller resplen- 
dant vpon hiz breast, of the auncient armez of Islington : 
vpow a question whearof : he, az one that waz wel schoold, 

mon purposes, \vere usually made in pairs. The word napJcin is placed for 
handkerchief. The description of the minstrel's gown will easily be under- 
stood ; and it is only requisite to remark upon it, ih3.t fustian-a-napes signifies 
Naples fustian, or what was sometimes called fustian hustian. Nether stocks 
were under stockings. The scutcheon about the minstrel's neck, alludes to an 
ancient custom for persons of that profession to wear the badge of that family 
by which thej'^ were retained ; as the three belonging to the House of 
Percy wore each of them a silver crescent. 

" Towards the end of the sixteenth centmy, this class of men had lost all 
their former credit, and were sunk so low in public estimation, that in 1597, 
39th of Eliz. a statute was passed, by which minstrels, wandering abroad, 
were included with "rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars," and were 
directed to be punished as such. This act seems to have put an end to the 
profession." — Burn, p. 107-8 ; Nichols, i. 461. 

' See Notes at the end. 

2 A true-lover's knot. True-love is Herb Paris, a quatrefoil whose leaves 
bear a sort of likeness to a truo-lover's knot. — See Gloss, to my Wright's 
Chaste Wife. 

3 1, wide ; 2, long. ■* Orig. a a. * Poynets, Fr. wristbands. 

^ Camlet a mixed stuff of wool and silk, used for gowns, temp. Elizabeth and 
James I., and mentioned by writers of that era. It was originally manufac- 
tured of the hair of the camel, and from thence its name is derived. — Fair- 
holt. 

' Fustian anapes [=of Naples] is Naples fustian ; sometimes called fustian 
bustian. — Ken. III. p. 101. 

8 wrest = tuning hammer, to wrest or turn the tuning pins of the harp. See 
p. 41, 62. 9 Orig. Middilsez. 



The auncieni Minstrell described. 30 

& coold hiz lesson parfit withoout booke too aunswear at 
full, if question wear askt hym, declared : hoow tlie woor- 
shipfull village of Islington in Middelsex, well knooen too 
bee one of the most auncient and best toounz in England 
next London at thiz day : for the feythfuU freendship of 
long time sheawed, az well at Cookez feast in Aldersgate 
streete yeerely vpon holly Rood day^, az allso at all solem 
bridalez in the citie of London all the yeer after : in well 
seruing them of furmenty for porage^, not ouersod till it be 
too weak : of mylk for theyr flawnez^, not pild nor chalked : 
r , ^g -1 of cream for their custardes, not ffrothed nor 

thykned with floour : and of butter for theyr pastiez, 
and pyepast, not made of well curds, nor gathered of whey 
in soommer : nor mingled in winter with salt butter watered 
or washt, did obteyn long ago thez woorshipfull armez in 
cooler & foorm az yee see : which are the armz, a field ar- 
gent, as the field and groound indeed, whearin the milk- 
winez of thiz woorthy tooun, and euery man els in hys 
faculty doth trade for hiz lining : on a Fess Tenny* three 
platez betweene three milke tankerds proper. The three 
milk tankerds, az the proper vessell whearin the substauns 
and matter of their trade iz too and fro transported. The 
Fess Tenny, which iz a cooler betokening dout & suspitiow^ : 
so az suspition & good heed taking, az wel to their markets 
& seruants, az to their customers, that they trust not too 
farre : may bring vnto them platez, that iz, coynnd syluer : 
three, that iz, sufiicient and plentie, for so that number in 
Armory may well signifie. 

For Creast, vpon a wad of ote strawe for a wreath, a boll 
of furmenty : Wheat (az yee kno) iz the most precious gyft 

of Ceres, and in the midst of it, sticking, a doozen 
spoonz™ ^^ hornspoonz in a bunch, az the instrumentsf 
r , CQ 1 meetest too eate furmenty porage wythall : a 

doozen, az a number of plenty compleat for full 
cheere or a banket, and of horn, az of a substauns more es- 

' 14 Sept., the boys' nutting-day. — ^Ellis's Brand, i. 194-5. 

- furmity : ^]>e frumenty potage.' — Babees Booh, p. 141, 1. 391, etc. ; Percy 
MS. Loose Songs, p. 61, 64-5. 

■^ Fr.^ans: m. Flawns, Custards, Egge-Pies. — Cotgrave, A Cheese-cake 
or FlawTie. — Hexham; see Babees Book Index. 

* An orange-coloured band, horizontally crossing the middle of the ehield, 
of which it takes up the third part. — Cussans. 

' Orange or yellow is the colour of doubt. 

- ' spnooz ' in the Brit. Mus. copy ; but spoonz in the St. John's copy. 



40 The auncient Minstrell described. 

timabl then iz made for a great deel : bfeing aether so churl- 
ish in weight az iz mettall : nor so froward and brittl to 
manure az stone, nor yet so soily in vse, nor roongh to the 
lips, az wood iz : but lyght, plyaunt, and smooth, that with 
a litfrl licking wooll allweiz be kept az clen az a dy, " With 
yoor paciens, Gentlmen/' (quoth the minstrel) " be it said : 
wear it not in deede that hornz bee so plentie, hornware I be- 
leeue woold bee more set by than it iz, and yet are thear in 
our parts, that wyll not stick too auoow that many an honest 
man both in citee and cuntree hath had hiz hoous by horn- 
ing well vphollden^, and a daily freend allso at need. And 
thiz (with your fauoour) may I further affirm : a veiy ingeni- 
oous parson waz hee, that for dignitee of the stuff, coold 
thus by spooning, deuise to aduauns the horn so neer too 
the hed. 

" With great congruous also wear theez hornspoonz put 

too the wheat : az a token and porcion of Cornucopias, the 

horn of Achelous, which the Naiades^ did fil with fall 

111^9.™^ good frutez, corn & grain : & after did consecrate 

r , g, -, vnto abooundauns and plenty. 

" This skoochion, with beastz very aptly agreeing 
both to the armz and to the trade of the bearerz, glorioously 
supported. Between a gray Mare (a beast meetest for 
carying of mylktankards,) her pannell on her bak, az alwayz 
reddy for seruis at euery feast and brydale at neede, her 
tail splayd at most eaz : and her filly fole^, fallo, and a flaxen 
mane after the syre. 

" In the skro vndergrauen," (quoth hee) " thiz ear a proper 
Salern ca woord, an hemisticlii, well squaring with al the rest, 
taken out of Salerns chapter of things that most 
noorish man^s body : Lac, Caseus infans. That iz, good 
milke and yoong cheez. And thus mooch, Gintlmen, and 
pleaz you (quoth he) for the armz of oom* woorshipfull tooun." 
And thearwithal made a manerly leg, and so held his peas. 

Az the cumpany pawzed, and the minstrell seemde to gape 
after a praiz for hiz Beauparlar : and bicauz he had renderd 
hiz lesson so well : Saiz a good fello of the cuwipany, " I am 
sory to see hoow mooch the poore minstrell mistakez the 
matter : for indeed the armez are thus. 

^ Seo the Btillad of " Cuckold's Haven, or The Married Man's Miserie, who 
must ahide the penaltie of being hornify'd " in the BalUid Soc.'s Roxb. Ballads, 
i. 148. " Qu. Maiades '^—Nichols, i. 464. 

* fallow (-coloui-ed) she-foal : foal is a horse-colt ; Jllly a mare-colt. 



The auncient MinstrelVs sollem Song. A<\ 

r+ r1^ "tTliT6c milk tankords proper, in ix fioldo of 

cloouiod cream ; three p^reeii clioesez vpon ;i, shealf of 
cakebread. "^riie fyrmeiity Loll and liornspooiiz : cauz their 
profit coins nil hy horned boast/j. Hu})ported by n, Mjiro with 
a, gald back, lk> thearfore still couerd with a. pannit'll, tiskiiig 
with her tail for llye/, and her filly fole neying after the 
dam for suk. This woord Lac, Caseus infans. 'Iliat is, ji 
fresh cheez and cream, & the common cry that theez milk- 
wiuez make in London streetes yeerly, betwixt Kaater and 
Whitsontide : ami this iz the very matter ; I kno it well 
inough :" and so ended hiz tnle, and sate him dooiin again. 

Heerat euery in.-in Luight a good, sane the minstrell : 
that, thoough the fooU wear mii.de priny, all wiiz bnt for sport, 
yet too see him self thus crost with a contrary ku that heo 
lookt not for, woold straight hauo goen^ ouor all, waxt very 
wayward, enger'^, and soour : hoow be it, last, by sum entreaty 
h and many fayr woords, with sak h suger, we swecitned him 
againe, and after bi;cam az mory az a py. Appecu'ez thiui 
a fresh, in hiz ful forTtuvlitee, with a louiily loock : after three 
loly cooursiez'', cleeredhis vois with ;i, hem and a reacli, and 
r . ,„ I spat oout withal, wipedf hiz lips with the hollo of his 
hand, for"^ fybng hiz napkin, temperd a string or too 
with h.is wroast : and after a littl warbling on hiz harp for a 

prelude, came foorth with a sollem song, war- 
thi^sbook I'aunted for story oout of King Ari,lmrz acts, thi; 

first booke and 2G. chapter'', whearof I ga,Le a copy, 
and that iz this. 

SO it befell vpon a Penticost day. 
When King Arthur at Camolot kept coourt rial. 
With hiz cumly (^)ueen, dame Gaynoour the gay. 
And many bolld Barrens sitting in hall. 
Ladies appa,raild in purpl and pall. 
When herauds in hukes'^ horried full by'', 
" Largess ! Largess ! cheualiers treshardy \" 

^ A doouty Dwarf too the vppermost deas 
Right peartly gan prik, and, kneeling on knoo, 
With stecuen** full stoout aniids all the prcas, 

' given. ^ Fr. aigre. ^ lowly ciirtsios. 

■• to prevent. Compare, on the saving of the naplcin, the mvJjUr above, p. 24. 
' See Notes at the end. •• See Notes at tho end. 

Ken. 111. reads hy (high) and translates hcrricd, cried, (Fr. huier). 



" voice. A. Sax. stefn. 



42 The auncient MinstreWs soUem Bong. 

Said " hail, syr king ! God tlieo saue and see ! 
King Ryons of Nortligalcz greotctli well tlicc, 
And bids that thy board anon thou him send, 
Oi" els from thy iawz he will it of rend. 

" ^ For his robe of state, a rich skarlet mantcll. 
With a-leaueu kings beards bordred aboout, 
Hee hath made late, and yet in a cantelU 
Iz leaft a place, the twcltli to make oout : [p. 54.] 

Wear thin must stand, bee thou neuer so stoout : 
This must bee doon, I tell thee no fabl, 
Mawgre the poour of all thy roound tabl." 

^ When thiz mortall message from hiz moouth waz past, 
Great waz the brute in hiill and in boour : 
Tho King famed, the queen shriked, ladiez wear agast. 
Princes puft, Bar[o]nz blustered, Lordz bega?i too loour. 
Knights stampt, squirez startld, az steedz in a stoour^, 
Yeemen and pagez yeald'^ oout in the hall : 
Thearwith cam in Syr Kay of Seneshall. 

" ^ Sylens, my suffrainz," quoth the courteyz Knight, 
And in that stoound the cliearm becam still, 
The Dwarfs dynner full deerly waz dight, 
For wine and wastcll' hoc had at hiz will : 
And when heo had oaten and fed hiz fill, 
One hundred peeces of coyned gould 
Wear giuen the Dwarfe for hiz message bolld. 

" ^ Say too Syr Rycns, thou Dwarf,'' quoth tho King, 

" That for his proud message I him defy. 
And shortly with basinz and panz will him ring 
Oout of Northgalez, whearaz hee and I 
With sweards (and no razerz) shall vtterly try 
Which of vs both iz the better Barber :" 
And thearwith ho shook hiz sword Excalaber. 

r,. ^g6 -, t^t this, the minstrell made a pauz & a curtezy, 
for Primus passus'^. More of the song iz thear, but 

' A piece, or part. Shakspeaxe uses tho -word in King Henry IV. part 1. 
act 3, scone 1. 

" And cuts mo, from tho best of all my land, 
A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out. — Bum, p. 10. 
2 battle.— i?«r//. 3 yelled. * Wastel, fine bread. 

6 In the numbering of tho pages in the original, 65 is skipped. 
6 l^st fitt, Ist canto. Fassus is the name for the divisions in Piers Fkwman, 



Wednesday, July 'Xl , 1575. The Queen goes. 43 

I gat it not. Az for the matter, had it cum to the shoaw, I 
think the fello would hauc handled it well ynoough. 

Her highnes tarryed at Kylliiigwoorth tyll the Wednesday 
after, being the 27 of this luly, and the ninteenth (inclu- 
siue) of her Maicstiez cumming thither^. 

For which seuen daiz, percoyuing my notez so slenderly 
aunswering : I tooke it less blame too ceas, & thearof too 
write yoo nothing at al, the??/ in such matterz to write no- 
thing likely. And so mooch the rather (az I haue well be- 
thooght me) that if I dyd but ruminate the dayz I haue 
spoken of, I shall bring oout yet sumwhat more, meet for 
yoor appetite, (thoogh a deinty tooth haue ye,) which I be- 
leue yoor tender stomak will brook wel inoogh. 

Whearof part iz : fyrst hoow according to her highnes 
name ELIZABETH, which I heer say oout of the 
seauenz Hebru signifieth (amoong oother) the Seauenth of 
my God : diuerz things heer did soo iustly in number 
square with the same. Az fyrst, her highnes hither cum- 
ming in this seauenth fmoonth : then, prezented with the 
r , -- -■ seauen prezents of the seauen Gods : and after, 
with the melody of the seauen sorted muzik in the 
dollphin, the Lakeladiez gyft. 

Then^ too, consider how fully the Gods (az it seemed) had 
conspyred most magnificently in aboundauns too bestow 
theyr influencez & gyfts vpon her coourt, ihear too make her 
Maiesty merry. 

Sage Saturn himself in parson (that bycauz of 
PalkT ^^ ^^^ lame leg coold not so well stur) in chayr thear- 
fore too take order with the graue officerz of hoous- 
hold, holpen in deed with the good aduise of his prudent 
Nees Pallas : That no vnruly body or disquiet disturb the 
nobl assemblee, or els be ons so bolld too cuter within the 
Castl gatez. Awey with al rascallz, captiuez, melawcholik, 
waiward, fro ward, Coniurerz, and Vsurers ! and to haue la- 
borers and vnderwoorkmen for the beautifying of ony place, 
alwey at hand, az they shoold be commaunded. 
J ., lupiter. Sent parsonagez of hy honor & dig- 

nitee : Barows, Lords, Ladies, luges, Bishops, 
Lawyerz, Doctors : with them, vertu, noblness, equitee, liber- 
j- -g , alitee & compassionf : due seazow-, & fayr weather : 
sauing that, at the petition of hiz deer sister Ceres, 



See Notes at tho end. 



44 Tke Gods and Goddesses' gifts to the Queen. 

ho grau?itod a day or too of sum sweet shoourz for rypening 
of her corn that waz so well set, & too set forward haruest : 
Heerwith, bestoed he such plenty of pleazaunt thunder, 
lightning, & thu7iderbollts, by hiz halting sun & fyer- 
master, Vulcan, stil fresh & fresh framed, alweyz so frequent, 
so intellabl, & of such cojitinuauns in the speeding (az I 
partly tolld ye) consumed, that surely he seemz too be, az 
of poour inestimabl, so, in store of municion, vnwastabl. 
For all Quid's censui'e, that saiz : 

Si quoties peccant homines, sua fiilmina mittat 
lupiter : exiguo tempore inermis erit. 
If loue shoold shoot hiz thu?iderbollts az oft as men offend. 
Assure yoo hiz artillary wold soon be at an end. 

What a number of estatez & of nobilit6e had lupiter as- 
sembled thcar, gess yee by this : that of sort woorshipfull 
thear wear in the coourt dayly aboone fourty, whearof the 
meynest, of a thoouza7id mark yeorly reuenu, and many of 
mooch more. This great gyft byside did hiz deitee cast 
vpon her highnes, too hauo fayr & seazonabl weather at her 
rih 69 1 ooun appointment : II According whearvnto, her Ma- 

iestye so had. For her gracious prczons thearfore 
with this great gift indewed, Lichfeeld, Worceter, and 
Middelton', with manyo placcz rao, made humbl sute vntoo 
her highnes too cum : too such whearof as her Maiesty coold, 
it cam : and they seazon acceptabl. 
Phoeb s Phoebus. Biside his continuall & most delicious 

muzik (az I haue toold yoo), appointed he Princes 
too adoourn her highnes coourt, Ooounselerz, Herauds, and 
sanguine yooth, pleazaunt & mery, costlye garments, learned 
Phizicianz, & no neede of them. 
J luno. Golld cheynez, Ouchez, lewels of gret 

price, & rich attyre, woorn in mooch grace & good 
beseeming, without pryde, or emulacion of ony. 
,j Mars. Captainz of good conduct. Men skylfull in 

feats of armz, pollitik in stratagemz. Good coorage in 
good quarelz, valiant, & wizeliardy : Abandoning pikquar- 
rels & ruffianz : appoynting also Pursyuaunts, currarz^ & 
posts, still feeding her highnes with nuze & intelligencez 
from all parts. 

Venus. Venus. Vntoo the Ladyez & Gentl-§wemen, 

Uv- 60.] beauty, good fauour, cumlinesse, galawt attyre, 

^ See Notes at the end. - couriers. 



The Gods and Goddesses^ gifts to the Queen. 45 

dauncing witli cumly grace, sweet vois in song, & pleazaunt 
tallk : with express commaundment & charge vntoo her 
sunn^, on her blessing, that he shoote not a shaft in the 
Coourt all the while her highnes remayned at Killing wo orth. 
-_ . Mercuri. Learned men in Sciencez, Poets, Mer- 

chaunts, Painterz, Karuerz, Players, Engyners, 
Deuyserz, & dexteritee in handling of all pleazaunt at- 
tempts. 

Luna. Callm nights for quiet rest, and syluer 
moonshine, that nightly in-deede shone for most 
of her Maiestyez beeing ihear. 
p, Blinde Plutus. Bags of moony, Custumerz^ 

Exchaungers, Bankers, Store of riches in plate 
and in coyn. 
■p , Bacchus. Full Cups euery whear, euery oour, of 

al kynds of wyne. 
,, , Thear waz no deintee that the sea coold yeeld, 

but Neptune (thoough hiz reign at the neerest ly 
well ny a hundred mile of) did dayly send in great plenty, 
sweet and freash. As for freashwater fish, the store of all 
sorts waz aboundaunt. 
Pj And hoow bountiful Ceres in prouizion waz, gess 

ye by this : that in lyttl more then *a three dayz 
r* fii 1 space, 72. tunn of Ale & Beer waz pyept^ vp quite, 
'- ^' ■-' what that mighte, whilst with it of bread, beside 
meat, I report me to yoo. And yet, master Controller, mas- 
ter Coferar, and diuerz ofl&cers of the Coourt, sum honorabl, 
and sundrye right woorshipfuU, placed at Warwik for more 
rooum in the Castl. But heer was no ho*. Master Martin, in 
deuoout drinking allwey : that broughte a lak^ vnlookt for ; 
whiche being knoen too the WoorshipfuU my Lord^s good 
neighboourz, cam thear in a too dayz space, from sundry 
friendz, a releef of a xl. tunn, till a nu supply was gotten 
agayn : and then too oour drinking a freshe, az fast az euer 
we did. 
Flora Flora. Abrode & within the hoous ministred of 

flourz so great a quantitee : of such sweet sauoour, 
so beautifully hued, so large and fayr of proporcion, and of 
so straunge kindez & shapez, that it waz gTeat pleasure too 

1 Cupid. 

2 Collectors of the customs, or duties payable at ports to the Queen. See 
Master Smith, Custumer, p. 61. 

* piped, suckt, swallowed. * halt, stop. * Orig. a-lak. 



46 The Gods and Goddesses' gifts to the Queen. 

see : & so moocli the more, az thear waz great store yet 
counterfet & foormed of featlierz by art, lyke glorioous too 
the sheaw az wear the naturall. 

Protheus. Protheus. Hiz Tumbler that coold by nirabl- 
[tp. 62.1 ^6ss ^^st himself intoo so manyf foorms & facionz. 
Pan. Hiz mery morrys dauns, with their pype 
^''''' & taber. 

Bellona. Bellona. Her quintine knights, & proper bick- 

erings of the Couentree men. 
Polyplie- Polyphemus. Neptunez sun & heyr (let him, I 
°^^^' pray, & it be but for hiz father's sake and for his 

good wyll, he allowed for a God,) with hiz bearz, hiz bear- 
whealps, and bandogs. 

. , jiEolus. Hollding vp hiz windez while her high- 

nes at any tyme took pleazure on the water, and 
staying of tempests during [her] abode heer. 
o , Syluanus. Beside hiz plentifuU prouizion of 

fooul for deynty viaunds, his pleazaurit and sweet 
singing byrds : whearof I will sheaw yoo more anon. 
Echo. Echo. Her wel endighted dialog. 

Faimu3. Faunus. Hiz ioly Sauage. 

Genius. Genius loci. Hiz tempring of al things within 

& without, with apt tyme & place too pleazure & delight, 
p, ., Then the three Oharites : Aglaia, with her 

lightsum gladnes. Thalia, her floorishing freshnes. 
Euphrosyne, her cheerfullnes of spirite; and with theez 
r go -J three in one assent, Concordia : with fher amitee and 
good agreement. That too hoow great effects their 
poourz wear pooured oout heer among vs, let it bee iudged 
by this : that by a multytude thus met, of a three or foour 
thoouzand, euery day, and diuerz dayz more, of so sundry 
degrees, professions, agez, appetytz, dispozicions, & affec- 
tions : such a drifte of tyme was thear passed, with such 
amitee, looue, pastime, agreement, and obediens whear it 
shoold : and without quarrel, iarring, grudging, or (that I 
coold heer) of yll woord between any. A thing, master 
Martin, very rare & straunge ; and yet no more straunge 
then tru. 

The Parcae (as earst I shoold haue sayd) the 

first night of her Maiestiez cumming : they — heer- 

ing & seeing so precioous ado heer at a place vnlookt for, in 

an vplowdish cuntree so far within the Ream, — preassing 

intoo euery steed whear her highnes went, whearby so 



TJie Fates stop working during the Queen's visit. 47 

duddld* witli such varietee of delyglits, did set aside their 
huswifrye, coold not for their harts tend their work a whyt. 
But after they had seen her Maiesty a bed, gat them a 
prying into euery place ; olid hags, az fond of nuellries^, az 
yoong girls that had neuer seen Court afore* : but neyther 
r« (54-1 ^^ with gazing, nor wery with gadding, leaft 
of yet for that time ; and at high midnight, gate 
them gigling, (but not alooud,) into the prezens Chamber : 
minding indeed with their prezent diligens, too recompens 
their former slaknes. 

So, setting themseluez thus dooun too their woork : " alas V 
sayz Atropos, " I haue lost my sheerz :" Lachesis laught 
apace, and woold not draw a threed : " And thinke ye, damez, 
that ile hoold the distaff whyle both ye sit idle ? why, no ! by 
my mootherz soil V qwod Clotho. Thearwith, fayr lapt in a 
fine lawn the spindel and rok^, that waz dizend with pure 
purpl sylk, layd they safely vp toogyther : that of hir Mai- 
estyez distaff, for an eighteen dayz, thear waz not a threed 
spoon, I assure you. 

The two systers after that, (I hard say,) began their woork 
again : that long may they continu ; but Atropos hard no 
ty dings of her sheers ; and not a man that moned her loss. 
She iz not belooued surely ; for this I can tell yoo : that 
whither it bee for hate too the hag, or looue to her highnes, 
or els for both, euery man prayz God she may neuer find 
(- , g . -] them for that woork, and so pray I fdayly and duly 
with the deuooutest. 

Thus partly ye perceyue noow, hoow greatly the Gods can 
do for mortals, and hoow mooch alwey they looue whear 
they like, that what a gentl loue waz thys, thus curteoosly 
too contriue heer such a treyn of Gods ! Nay then rather, 
master Martin, (to cum oout of oour poeticaliteez, & too talk 
no more serioous tearms), what a magnificent lord may we 
iustly account him, that cold so highli cast order for such a 
lupiter, & all hiz Gods besid, that none with hiz influens, 
good property, or prezewt, wear wanting : but aalweis redy 
at hand, in such order and aboundans, for the honoring and 
delight of so high a Prius, oour most gracious Queen & 
souerain. A prins (I say,) so singuler in preemineus & 
worthines abooue al other Princes and digniteez of oour 

* muddled, confused. Cp. doddle to toUer; doddy-pate, doddypoll, a num- 
ekull, fool, in my Ballads from MSS, vol. i. 
2 novelries, novelties, new things. ^ See liotes at the end. 



48 Praise of Lord Leicester and Kenilworth. 

time : thoogh 1 make no comparison too yeerz past, to him 
that in thiz point, either of ignorauns (if any such can be) 
or els of maleuolens, woold make any doout : ' Sit liber index ' 
(az they say) let him look on the matter, and aunswer him- 
self : he haz not far too trauell. 

Az for the Amplitude of his Lordship's mynde : all bee it 
J-, gg-, that I,poor soil, can in §conceit no more attain vntoo, 

then iudge of a gem, whearof I haue no skill, ye, 
thoogh daily worn & resplendant in myne ey : yet simi of 
the vertuze and propertiez thearof, in quantitee or qualitee 
so apparaunt az cannot be hidden, but seene of all men, 
moought I be the boolder too reaport her vnto yoo : but as 
for the valu, yoor iewellers by their Garrets let them cast, and 
they can. 

And fyrst : who that considerz vntoo the stately seat of 
Kenelwoorth Castl, the rare beauty of bilding that his honor 
hath auaunced^ : all of the hard quarry stone : euery room so 
spacioous, so well belighted, and so hy roofed within : So 
seemely too sight by du proportion without : a day time on 
euerye side so glittering by glasse, a nights by continuall 
brightnesse of candel, fyre, & torchlight, transparent throogh 
the lyghtsom wyndz, az it wear the Egiptian Pharos re- 
lucent vntoo all the Alexandrian coast; or els (too tallke 
merily with my mery freend) thus radiaunt, as thoogh 
PhcBbus for hiz eaz woold rest him in the Castl, and not 
euery night so to trauell dooun vnto the Antipodes. Heertoo, 
r*Tj 67 1 ^° ^^7 furnisht of rich apparell, & vtensilez *apted 

in all pointes to the best. 

Vntoo thiz, hiz honorz exquisit appointment of a 
den. ^" beautifuU garden^, an aker or more of quantitee, 

that lyeth on the north thear. Whearin, hard all 
along the Castl wall, iz reared a pleazaunt Torres of a ten 

* See Notes at the end. 

2 It would appear from the " Secret Memoirs of the Earl of Leicester," that 
the magnificent gardens and spacious parks at Kenilworth were not completed 
without some oppression on the part of their possessor, as the unknown author 
of the ahove work thus speaks concerning them : — " The like proceedings he 
used with the tenants ahout Eallingworth, where he received the said Lord- 
ship and Castle from the Prince, in gift, of 24^. yearly rent, or thereabouts, 
hath made it better than 500/. by year, by an old record also found, by great 
good fortune, in a hole of the wall, as it is given out (for he hath singular 
good luck always in finding out records for his purpose ;) by virtue whereof 
he hath taken from his tenants round about, their lands, woods, pastures, and 
commons, to make himself parks, chases, and other commodities therewith, to 
the subversion of many a good family which was maintained there beforethis 



The beautiful Garden at Kenilworth. 49 

foot hy & a twelue brode^ eeuen vnder foot, & fresh of fyne 
grass : az iz allso tlie side thearof toward the gardein, in 
wMche by sundry equall distauncez, with obelisks, sphearz, 
and white bearz^^ all of stone, vpow theyr curioouz basez, by 
goodly shew wear set : too theez, too fine arbers redolent by 
sweet trees and floourz, at ech end one, the garden plot 

devourer set foot in that country." At a subsequent part of the same volume 
is mentioned Lord Leicester's " intolerable tyranny " upon the lands of one 
Lane, "who offered to take Killingworth Castle." A royal favourite, how- 
ever, and a successful minister, was never yet without enemies, and it is cer- 
tain that Lord Leicester was not ; the whole of the volume out of which these 
extracts have been made, is filled with charges of the most dreadful crimes 
with which human nature can be stained ; yet even these are related with 
such levity, such seeming familiarity with vice, that the reader is tempted to 
believe that a great proportion of it was fabricated by malice, and that the 
author was even worse than the character he describes. But to return : — The 
garden mentioned in the text will doubtless remind some readers of those 
splendid pleasure-grounds which belonged to Lord Burleigh, at Theobalds ia 
Hertfordshire, and Sir "Walter Raleigh's at Shirburne Castle in Dorsetshire. 
Of the former, Peck, in his " Desiderata Curiosa," says, " He also greatly de- 
lighted in making gardens, fountaias, and walks, which at Theobalds were 
perfected most costly, beautifully, and pleasantly. Where one might walk 
two miles in the walks before he came to their ends." Sir Paul Hentzner, in 
his " Journey into England," when speaking of the same place, describes it 
more particularly. " From this place " [i. e. the gallery,] " one goes into the 
garden, encompassed with a ditch full of water, large enough for one to have 
the pleasure of going in a boat, and rowing between the shrubs ; here are 
great variety of trees and plants ; labyrinths made with a great deal of labour ; 
a jet d'eau, with its bason of white marble ; and columns and pyramids of 
wood and other materials up and down the garden : After seeing these, we 
were led by the gardener into the summer-house, in the lower part of which, 
built semicircularly, are the twelve Roman Emperors, in white marble, and a 
table of touchstone ; the upper part of it is set round with cisterns of lead, 
into which water is conveyed through pipes, so that fish may be kept in them, 
and in summer time they are very convenient for bathing ; in another room 
for entertainment, very near this, and joined to it by a little bridge, is an oval 
table of red marble." Concerning the pleasure-groimds at Shirburne, in 
Peck's work before cited, there is only a notice that Sir Walter Raleigh had 
drawn the river through the rocks into his garden ; but Coker states, that he 
built in the park adjoining to the Castle, " from the ground, a most fine house, 
which he beautified with orchards, gardens, and groves, of such variety and 
delight, that whether you consider the goodness of the soil, the pleasantness 
of the seat, and other delicacies belonging to it, it is unparalleled by any in 
these parts." The above extracts will be an amusing covmterpart to Lane- 
dam's elaborate description of Lord Leicester's gardens. — Burn, p. 110-112; 
Nichols, i. 472. 

1 " These effigies were allusive to the ancient badge of the Earls of Warwick, 
which was, a bear erect Argent, omizzled Gules, supporting a ragged staff of the first ; 
the ragged staffs were introduced in another part of the garden, vide ante, 
page 75. Lord Leicester's connexion with the Earls of Warwick was through 
the houses of Lisle and Beauchamp, brought into the family of Dudley by his 
mother, Elizabeth Talbot. In 1561, Ambrose Dudley, Robert's elder brother, 
was made Earl of Warwick, and consequently the badge was thus introduced." 
—Burn, p. 112; Nichols, i. 473. 



50 The Garden and Bird-Cage at Kenilworth. 

vnder that, with fayr alleyz green by grass, eeuen voided 
from the borderz a both sydez, and sum (for chaunge) with 
sand, not light or to soft, or soilly by dust, but smooth and 
fyrme, pleasaunt too walk on az a sea shore when the water 
iz auaild^ : then, much gracified by du proporcion of four 
eeuen quarterz : in the midst of each, vpon a base a too 
foot square, & hy, seemly borderd of it self, a square 
pilaster rizing pyramidally, of a fyfteen foote hy : Simmetri- 
cally peerced through, from a foot beneath, vntill a too foot 
rt 68 ^ ^^ ^^^® ^*^P • ^^^^®^i' vpon, for a Capitell, an Orb of a 
tenf inches thik : euery of theez (withhiz base) from 
the groound too the top of one hole pees, heawen oout of 
hard Porphiry, and with great art & heed (thinks me) 
thyther conueyd, & thear erected. 

Whear further allso, by great cast & cost, the sweetnes of 
sauoour on all sidez, made so respiraunt^ from the redolent^ 
plants and fragra7it earbs and floourz, in foorm, cooUer and 
quantitee, so delicioously variant : and frute Trees bedecked 
with their Applz, Peares, and ripe Cherry ez. 
The C o- And vnto theez, in the midst, agaynst the Torres : 

° ' a square cage, sumptuoous and beautifull, ioyned 
hard to the Northwall (that a that side gards the gardein, 
as the gardein the Castl), of a rare form and excellency was 
reyzed : in heyth a twentye foot, thyrty long, and a foour- 
teen brode. From the ground strong h close, reared 
breast hy, whearat a soyl of a fayr moolding was coouched 
all aboout : From that vpward, foour great Avyndoz a froont, 
and too at each eend, euery one a fyue foot wide, az many 
mo eeuen abooue them, diuided on all parts by a transum* 
and Architraue" so likewize raunging aboout the Cage. Each 
windo arched in the top, and §parted from oother in eeuen 
rs 69 1 distauns by flat fayr bolteld^ columns, all in foorm 
& beauty like, that supported a cumly Cornish, 

' avaled, lowered, gone down, ebbed. Fr. d val. 

^ Fit for breathing, refreshing ; Lat. respira-, re^'ive, be refreshed. 

^ Lat. redolent; emitting a scent, diffusing an odour. 

■• Transom, an overthwart Beam or Brow-Post : Kersey's Phillips ; the piece 
of Timber which is fram'd across in a double light Window : Blount. 

^ Architrave, the main Beam in any Building, and the fii'st Member of the 
Entablatui'e, i. e. that part of a Stone-Pillar which is above the Capital and 
below the Frize : In Timber-Buildings, it is called the Reason-piece or Master- 
Beam ; in Chimneys, the Mantle-piece; and over the Jambs of Doors or 
Lintels of Windows, 'tis termed Hyperthyron. — Kersey's Fhillips. 

6 Bolt el is a term used in building, to signify any prominence or jetting- 
out beyond the flat face of the wall. — Bicrn, p. 112 ; Nichols, i. 474. 



The Bird- Cage in Kenilworth Garden. 51 

couclied al along vpon the hole' square. Which, with a wire 
net, finely knit, of mashez sixe square, an inch wyde (az it 
wear for a flat roof) and likewise the space of euery windo, 
with great canning and cumlines, eeuen and tight, waz al 
cuerstrained. Vnder the Cornish again, euery part beauti- 
fyed with great Diamons, Bmerauds, Rubyes, and Saphyres : 
poynted, tabid, rok, and roound^, garnisht with their golld by 
skilfuU hed and hand, and by toile and pensill so lyuely 
exprest, az it naought bee great marueil and pleasure to con- 
sider how neer excellency of art could approch vntoo per- 
fection of nature. 

Bear with me, good cuntreeman, thoogh thinges be not 
sheawed heer az well az I woold, or az well as they shoold. 
For indeed I can better imagin & conceyue that I see, then 
wel vtter, or duly declare it. Holez wear thear also, and 
cauerns, in orderly distauns & facion, voyded intoo the wall, 
az wel for heat, for coolnes, for roost a nightz, & refuge in 
weather, az allso for breeding, when time iz. More, fayr, 
P . -„ -, eeuen, and fresh fholly treez, for pearching and proin- 
ing^, set within, tooward each eend one. Heereto 
their diuersitee of meats, theyr fine seueral vessels for their 
water, and sundry grainz, And a man skilful and diligent 
to looke too them and tend them. 

But (shall I tell yoo) the siluer soounded Lute, withoout 
the sweet toouch of hand : the glorioous goollden cup, with- 
oout the fresh fragrant wine; or the rich ring with gem, 
without the fayr feawtered* fiynger, iz nothing indeede in 
hiz proper grace & vse : Euen so his Honor accounted of 
thiz mansion, till he had plast thear tenauntes according : 
Had it thearfore replenishte with liuely Burds, English, 
French, Spanish, Canarian, and (I am deceaued if I saw not 

* Orig. bole. 

" It is evident that these precious stones were imitated in painting ; and 
that they were meant to represent the gems in their various appearances. 
Pointed, or rose, as it is termed hy the lapidaries, is when a stone is cut with 
many angles rising from an octagon, and terminating in a point. Tabled 
is when a diamond is formed with one flat upper surface ; and the word tahle 
also signifies the principal face. Rough is understood to mean the gem in its 
primary state, when its radiance is seen to sparkle through the dross of the 
mine. Round denotes the jewel when it is cut and polished with a convex 
surface. The expression, "Garnisht with their golld," which follows in the 
text, signifies ornamented with their settings. — Burn, p. 112-13; Nichols, i. 
474. — See, also, Kenilworth Illustrated, p. 102, where the writer says, that 
" rough " is the modern term for Laneham's " rok." 

^ preening : for hirds to trim and clean their feathers on. 

♦ ij'eatured^ shaped, ovfeutred, poised. 

E 2 



52 The Fountain in Kenihoorth garden, 

sum) African. Whearby, wliitlier it becam more deliglit- 
sum in channge of tnnez and armony too tlie eare : or els in 
differens of coollerz, kyndez, & property ez too tlie ey, lie tell 
5^00 if I can whe?^ I liaiie better betliouglit me. 

One day (Master Martin) az tlie Gardin-door 
diner ^" ^'^^ open, & ber biglmes a bunting*, by licens of my 
good freend Adriaj; I cam in at a bek, but woold 
skant oout ■witb a tbrust : for sure I waz lotb so soon to depart, 
p, -1 1 §Well may tbis (Master Martyn) bee sumwbat 

too magnitude of mynde : but more tbearof az ye 
sball kno, more cauz ye sliall bane so too tbink : beer out 
"wbat I tel yooj and tell me wben we meet. 

In tbe center (az it wear) of tbis goodly Gar- 
tain °^^' ^^^} ""^as tbeer placed a very fayre Foountain, 
cast intoo an eigbt square, reared a four foot by, 
from tbe midst wbearof a Colum vp set in tbe sbape of too 
Atblants ioined togeatber a backbalf, tbe toon looking East, 
tootber West, witli tbeyr bands vpbollding a fap* formed 
boll, of a tbree foot ouer : fi'om wbeans sundrye fine pipez 
did liuety distill continuall streamz intoo tbe receyt^ of tbe 
FoouutajTi, maynteyned styll too foot deep by tbe same 
fresb falling Avater : wbearin pleazauntly playing too & fro, 
& round about. Carp, Tencb, Bream, and for varietee, Pearcb 
& Eel, fysb fayi'liking all, and large ; in tbe toppe, tbe ragged 
staffe-, wbicb, witb tbe boll, tbe pillar, and eygbt sides 
beneatb, wear all beawen oout of ricb & bard wlute Marbl. 
A one syde, Neptune witb bis Tridental Fuskin^ triumpbing 
in biz Tbrone, trayled into tbe deep by bis marine borsez. 
On anotber, Tbetis in ber cbariot drawn *by ber Dollpbins. 
r^ -, -, Tben, Triton by biz fvsbez. Heer, Protbeus beard- 
ing biz sea buls. Tbear, Doris & ber doougbterz 
solacyng a sea & sandz. Tbe wauez scourging witb frotli 
& fome, entermengled in place witb wbalez, wbirlpoolz*, 
sturgeonz, Tunneyz, Ooncbs, & wealks : all engraue?i by ex- 
quisit denize and skill, so az I maye tbinke tbis not much 
inferioour vnto Pboebus gatez, wbicb (Ouid sayz), & perad- 
uentur a pattern to tbiz, that Vulcan bimself dyd cut : wbear- 
of sucb was tbe excellency of art, tbat tbe woork in valu sur- 
moounted tbe stuff; and yet war tbe gatez all of clean massy 
Byluer. 

' pool, basin. ^ See note 2 above, p. 9. 

^ Lat. fuscina, a three-pronged spear, a trident. 
■* Fr. Jkorepole : /., A wMrlepoole (fish). — Cotgrave. 



The Kenilworth Garden is Paradise. 53 

Heer wear thinges, ye see^ moought enflame ony mynde too 
long after looking : but whoo so was found so hot in desyre, 
with the wreast^ of a Cok was sure of a coolar : water spurt- 
ing vpward with such vehemency, az they shoold by & by 
be moystned from top too to : The hees to sum laughing, 
but the shees to more sport. 

Thiz sumtime waz occupied to very good pastime". 

A Garden then so appoynted, az whearin aloft vpon 
sweet shadoed wallk of Torres, in heat of Soomer, too feel 
J- , ^„ 1 the pleazauntf whysking winde abooue, or delectabl 
coolnes of the foountain spring beneath : Too tast 
of delicioous strawberiez, cheryez, & oother frutez, eeuen 
from their stalks : Too smell such fragrancy of sweet odoourz 
breathing from the plants, earbs, & floourz : Too heer such 
naturall meloodioous musik, and tunez of burds : To haue 
in ey, for myrth, sumtime theez vndersprynging streamz ; 
then, the woods, the waters (for both pool & chase wer hard 
at ha7id in sight), the deer, the peepl (that oout of the East 
arber in the base coourt, allso at hande in view), the fruto 
trees, the plants, the earbs, the floourz, the chaunge in 
coolers, the Burds flyttering, the Foountaine streaming, the 
Fysh swymming : all in such delectabl varietee, order, dig- 
Paradisus. nitee : whearby at one moment, in one place, at 
Graec. hande, without trauell, too haue so full fruition of 

Hortus gQ many Gods blessinges, by entyer delight vnto 
AutHebi-fe. al sencez (if al ca?i take) at ones : for Etymon of 
Pardes, id the woord woorthy to bee calld Paradys^ : and 
est, Hortus. ^j^^^g}^ j^q^ go goodly az Paradis, for want of the 
fayr Riuers, yet better a great deel by the lak of so vnhappy 
a tree. Argument most certein of a right nobl minde, that 
p, _ . -l in this soort coold §haue thus all contriued. 

But, Master Martin, yet one wyndlesse* must I 

The num- featch, too make ye one more fayr coorz, and I can : 

^ ■ and cauz I speak of one : let me tel yoo a littl of 

the dignitee of onehod, whearin allweyz al hy Deitee, al Soue- 

raintee, Preeminens, Principalitee, and Concord withoout pos- 

* twist, turn. 

2 This sentence is wanting in the Dutchess of Portland's copy. — Nichols, ed. 
1788, i. 46. _ 

3 Laneham, in making use of this expression, gave to Lord Leicester's 
gardens a name which it was customary to apply to pleasure-grounds and 
houses in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as in the instances of 
Wressell and Lekinfield, in the East Eiding of Yorkshire. — Burn, p. 113 
Nichols, i. 477. * See Notes at the end. 



54 Of Ones and Twos, and the 2 Kenilworth Dials. 

sibilitee of disagreement, iz conteyned. Az one God, one Sa- 
uioour, one Feith^ one Prins^ one Sun, one Phenix; and, az one 
of greatwizdom sayz, one liart, one wey^. Whear oneliod reinz, 
tlier quiet beai^s rule, & discord fliez a pase. Three again 
may signify cumpany, a meeting, a multitude, pluralitee : 
so az all talez and numbrings from too vntoo three, and so 
vpward, may well be counted numberz, till they moount vn- 
too infinitee, or els too confusion, which thing the sum of 
Too can neuer admit : nor it self can well bee coounted a 
number, but rather a freendly coniunction of too ones, that, 
keeping in a synceritee of accord, may purport vnto vs, 
Charitee each too other, mutuall looue, agreement, & integ- 
ritee of friendship withoout dissimulation. Az iz in thez : 
The too testamentes. The too Tables of the Law. The 
too great lights, Duo himinaria-f magna, The Sun & Moon. 
P , _g -■ And but mark a lyttl, I pray, and see hoow of all 

things in the world, oour toongs in tallk doo alweyz 
so redily trip vpon tooz, payrz, & cooplz : sumtymez as of 
things in equality, sumtime of differens, sumtime of con- 
trariez, or for comparyzon, but cheefly, for the most part, of 
things that between theiirseluez do well agree & ar fast 
linked in amitee : Az fyrst, for pastymez, hoounds and hawks : 
deer, red & fallo ; hare and fox ; partrich & fezaunt ; fysh & 
fooul; carp & tench. For warz, spear & sheeld, hors & 
harneis, swoord & bukler. For sustenauns, wheat & barly, 
peaz and beanz, meat and drinke, bread & meat, beer & ale, 
appls and pearz. 

But least by such dualiteez I draw you too far: let vs 
heer stay, and cum neerer home. See what a sort of 
freendly biniteez we oour seluez doo consist & stond vpon. 
Fyrst, oour too feet, too legs, too kneez, so vpward : and 
abooue, too shoolderz, too armz & too hawds. But cheefly 
our principll Too, that iz, body and soil : then in the hed, 
whear all oour sensez meet, and allmost all in Tooz : too noze- 
thrills, too earz, and too eyz. So ar we of freendly Tooz, from 

top too to. Wei, to this number of biniteez§, take 
[?P- 76.] yg Qj^Q jj^Q £qj. ^^ vpshot, & heer an eend. Too 
Diallz Dyallz ny vnto the battilments ar set aloft vpon too 

of the sidez of Cezarz toour, one East, thoother 
Soouth^ ; for so stond they best to sheaw the oourz too the 

^ The motto of the great Lord Bacon was Cor tmum, una via. — Ken. III. p. 38. 
2 The marks occasioned by fastening up these dials are very distinct and 
obvious at the present day (1821). — Ken. III. p. 38, note 4. 



The 2 Dials always pointed to tivo o'clock. 55 

tooun & cuntree : both fayre^ large, and ridi, by vyse^ for 
grooujid, & goold for letterz, whearby they glitter conspic- 
uous a great wey of. The clokbell that iz good & shrill, 
waz commaunded too silens at first, and in deede sang not a 
note all the while her highnes waz thear; the clok stood also 
still withall. But mark noow, whither wear it by chauns, 
by constellation of starz, or by fatall appoyntment (if fatez 
and starz doo deal with dialz). Thus waz it in deede : The 

handz of both the tablz stood firm and fast, 
^ii a clok ^H^eyz poynting too iust too a clok, still at too a 

clok. Which thing beholding by hap at first, but 
after seriously marking in deed, enprinted intoo me a deepe 
sign & argument certein. That thiz thing, amoong the rest, 
waz for full signifiauns of his Lordship^ s honorabl, frank, 
frendly, and nobl hart toward al estates. Which, whither cum 
they to stay & take cheer, or straight to returne : too see, 
j-^ __ 1 or to be seene : cum they for duty too her Maiesty 

or looue '^too hiz Lordship, or for both ; cum they 
early or late : for his Lordship^ s part, they cum allweyz all 
at too a clok, een iump^ at too a clok : That iz to say, in good 
harte, good acceptauns, in amitee, and freendlye wellcoom. 
Who saw els that I saw, in right must say az I say. For so 
manye thinges byside. Master Humfrey, wear heerin so con- 
sonant vnto my construction, that thiz poynting of the clok 
(to my self) I took in amitee, as an oracle certain. And 
heer iz my windlesse, lyke yoor coorse as pleaz ye. 

But noow, syr, to cum to eend. For receyuing of her 
hig [h] nes, and entertainment of all thoother estatez. Syns of 
delicatez that ony wey mought serue or delight : az of wyne, 
spice, deynty viaunds, plate, Musik, ornaments of boons, 
rich arras & sylk, (too say nothing of the, meaner thinges,) 
the mass by prouizion waz heaped so hoouge, which the 
boounty in spending did after bewray. The conceit so 
deep in casting the plat at first. Such a wizdom and cun- 
ning in acquiring things so rich, so rare, and in such abun- 
dauns : by so imminens'^ & profuse a charge of expens, whiche 
P »g -| by so honorabl seruis & exquisit order, curteizy fof 

officerz, and humanitee of al, wear after so boounti- 
fuUy bestoed and spent, what may this express, what may 
this set oout vntoo vs, but only a magnifyk minde, a singuler 

* See Notes at the end. 

^ plump, exactly. Did the two mean Elizabeth and Leicester ? 

3 immense ; or noteworthy, wondrous, startling, from emiiwis. 



56 The yreat Tent, great Wether, and great Child. 

wizdoom, a prinsly purs, and an heroicall hart ? If it wear my 
theam, Master Martin, too speake of hiz Lordship's great honor 
& magnif [i] cens, though it be not in me too say suflBciently, 
az bad a penclark az I am, yet coold I say a great deel more. 

But being heer now in magnificens, & matters of great- 

nes : it fals wel too mynd, The greatnes of his 

Tent^^^* honor's Tent, that for her Maiestyez dining was 

pighte at long Ichington, the day her highnes cam 

to TCillingworth Castl. A tabernacl indeed, for number and 

shift of large and goodlye roomz, for fayr & eazy offices, both 

inward & ooutward, al so likesum in order & eysight, that 

iustly for dignitee maybe comparabl with a beautifull Pallais, 

& for greatnes & qua^ititee with a proper tooun, or rather, 

a Cittadell. But to be short, least I keepe yoo too long 

from the E-yall Exchaunge noow, and too cauz yoo conceyue 

mooche matter in feawest woordes : the Iron bedsted of 

Og the King of Basan (ye wot) waz foour yards 

\hv 79 1 ^^"^ ^ halfe long, and too yards §widei, whearby ye 

consider a Gyaunt of a great proportion waz he. 

This tent had seauen cart lode of pynz^ perteining too it : 

noow for the greatness, gess az ye can. 

And great az it waz (too marshall oour matters of great- 
nes togither), not forgetting a Weather at Grafton, brought 
too the Coort, that for body and wooll was exceding great : 
the meazure I tooke not ; let me sheaw you with what great 
marueyl a great Ohyld of Leycetershire, at this long Iching- 
ton, by the Parents waz prezented : great (I say) of limz & 
proportion, of a foour foot & foour inches hy : and els lanu- 
ginoous^ az a lad of eyghteen yee [r] z, beeing indeede auowd 
too be but six yeer olid : nothing more bewraying hiz age 
the?! hiz wit : that waz, as for thooz yeers, simpl & childish. 

As for vnto hiz Lordship, hauing with such greatnes of 

honorabl modestye & benignitee so passed foorth, 

"^^^^ ■ as Laudem. sine inuidia et amicos ]jararit. By great- 

nesse of well dooing, woon with all sorts to bee in such re- 

g£^g uerens, az : Be quo mentirifama veretur. In syncer- 

itee of freendship so great, az no man more 

deuooutly woorships. 

* Deuteronomy, chap. iii. verse 11. — Burn. 

2 The pins or pegs driven into the ground to hold the tent-ropes. (See 
note -, p. 5 above.) 

3 Lat. latiuginosus, full of, or abounding in laimgo (a wool-like production, 
down, etc.), hence ' covered with down, downy.' — White and Riddle, 

* Terentius, Andr. T. i. Z'i.— Nichols, ed. 1788, i. 50. 



The great Lord Leicester. His kindness to Laneham. 57 

[*p. 80.] ^Illud amicitia sanctum, et venerahile nomen. 
Quid. 

So great in liberalitie^ az hatli no wey to heap vp the 
mass of hiz trezure^ but only by liberal gyuing & boounteoous 
bestoing hiz trezure : foloing (az it seemez) the saw^ of 
MartialP^ that sayth, 

E^tra fortunavD. est, quicquid donatur amicis ; 
Quas dederis, solas semper hahehis opes. 

Oout of all hazered doest thou set that to thy freends 

thoou gyuest : 
A surer trezure canst thoou not haue euer whyle 

thoou lyuest. 

What may theez greatnesses bode^ but only az great 
honor, fame, & renooum, for theez parts heer awey, az euer 
waz vntoo thoz too nobl Greatz : the Macedonian Alexander 
in Bmathia or Grees, or to Romano Charles in Germanye or 
Italy ? which, wear it in me ony wey to set oout, no man of 
all men, by God (Master Martin), had euer more cauz, and 
that heerby consider yoo. It pleazed his honor to beare 
me good wil at fyrst, & so too continu. To haue giueu me 
apparail, eeuen from hiz bak, to get me allowauns in the 
stabl, too aduauns me vntoo this worshipful! office, so neer 
the most honorabl Councell, to help me in my licens of 
Beanz (though indeed I do not so much vze it, for I thank 
ftp 811 ^°^ ■'■ ^6ed not), to permit my good Father to 
serue the stabl. t^liearby I go noow in my sylks, 
that else might ruffl in my cut canues : I ryde now a hors 
bak, that els many timez mighte mannage it a foot: am 
knoen to their honors, & taken foorth with the best, that els 
might be bidden to stand bak my self : My good Father a 
good releef, that hee farez mooch the better by ; and none 
of theez for my dezert, eyther at fyrst or syns : God, hee 
knoez. What say ye, my good freend Humfrey ? shoold I 
not for euer honor, extol him, al the weyz I can ? Yes, 
by yom' leaue, while God lends me poour to vtter my 
minde ! And (hauing az good cauz of his honor, az Virgil 
had of Augustus Cezar,) wH I poet it a httl with Virgill, 
and say, 

* Nichols, ed. 1788, i. 50, reads 'that saw,' and says 'Another copy reads 
tJie law of Martial.' 2 j^]j y., Epig. xHii. — Nichols. 



58 Of Leicester and the Queen. Laneham gets up at 7. 

Eo-lo'' I Nam que erit ille mihi semper Deus, illius arava. 
Sepe tener nostris ah ouilibus imhuet agnus. 

For lie sliallbe a god to me^ till death, my life consumez : 
His auters will I sacrifice "with incens and parfumez. 

A singular patron of humanitee may he be well vnto vs, 

towarde all degreez ; of Houor^ toward hy Estates ; and 

clieeflye^ whearby we may learne in what dignitee^ worship, 

and renerens, her highnes iz to be esteemed, honored, and re- 

ceiued, that waz neuer indeed more condignly doon then 

heer, so as neither by the bylders at first, nor by fthe 

50 H n3 -^^*^^ °^ pacification affcer^, was euer Kenelworth 

,^' ' more nobled then by thiz, hiz Lordship^s receiui?ig 

hir highnes heer now. 

But, lesu ! lesu ! whither am I drawen noow? But tallk I of 
rny Lord onz, een thus it farez with me : I forget all, my 
freends, & my self too. And yet yoo, being a Mercer, a 
Merchant, az I am : my cuntreeman born, & my good 
freend withal, whearby I kno ye ar compassiond with me : 
Me thought it my part, suiuwhat to empart vnto yoo hoow 
it iz heer with me, & hoow I lead my life, which indeed 
iz this : 

A mornings I rize ordinarily at seauen a clok : Then 
reddy, I go intoo the Chappell : soon after eyght, I get me 
commonly intoo my Lord^s Chamber, or intoo my Lord^s pre- 
zidents. Thear, at the cupboord, after I haue eaten the 
manchet, serued ouer night for liuery^, (for I dare be az bolld, 
I promis yoo, az any of my freends the seruauiits thear : and 
indeed, coold I haue fresh if I woold tary ; but I am of woont 
iolly & dry^ a mornings) I drink me vp a good bol of Ale : 
when in a sweet pot it iz defecated by al nights sta?iding, the 
drink iz the better ; take that of me* : & a morsell in a morn- 
ing, with a sound draught, iz very holsome and good for the 
rip S31 eysight. Then I am az fresh all ^the forenoon after, 
az had I eaten a hole pees of beef. Noow, syr, 

* See JYotes at the end. 

^ A loaf of fine bread served-out over-night as Laneham's liver;/ or allowance. 
Henry Viil.'s Knights, and others of the King's Conncell, Gentlemen of the 
Chamber, etc., had each in 1526, ' Everie of them, being lodged within the 
courte, for their Bouch in the morning, one chet [coarse] loafe, one manchet, 
one gallon of ale.' — Sousehold Ordinances, p. 163. 

3 Is this the first use of this now slang phrase ? 

* John Russell and Andrew Boorde say that Ale must be 5 days old before 
it is drunk. — Babees Book, p. 128, 208. Before it was hopt, it had to be brewed 
fresh and fresh, and must have been all the better for standing. 



How Robert Laneham spends his day. 59 

if tlie Councell sit, I am at hand, wait at an inch, I warrant 
yoo. If any make babhng, " peas ! " (say I) " woot ye whear 
ye ar V if I take a lystenar, or a priar in at the chinks or at 
the lokhole, I am by & by in the bones of him^ ; but now they 
keep good order; they kno me well inough : If a be a freend, 
or such one az I lyke, I make him sit dooun by me on a 
foorm, or a cheast : let the rest walk, a God^s name ! 

And heer doth my langagez now and than stond me in 
good sted, my Freiich, my Spanish, my Dutch, & my Latten, 
sumtime amoong Ambassadours mew, if their Master be 
within with the Couwcel, sumtime with the Ambassadour 
himself, if hee bid call hiz lacky, or ask me whats a clok : 
and I warrant ye I aunswer him roundly, that they maruell to 
see such a fello thear : the?i laugh I, & say nothing. Dinner 
& supper I haue twenty placez to go to, & hartly prayd to : 
And sumtime get I too Master Pinner, by my faith a worship- 
full Gentlman, and az carefull for his charge az ony hir high- 
nez hath : thear find I alway good store of very good viaunds : 
we eat and bee merry, thank God & the Queene ! Himself in 
r*p 84 1 feeding very temperat & moderat az ye shall see 
ony : *and yet, by your leaue, of a dish — az a colld 
pigeoTt or so, that hath cum to him at meat, more then he 
lookt for, — I haue seen him een so by and by surfit, az he 
hath pluct of hiz napkin, wyept his knife, & eat not a mor- 
sell more : lyke ynoough to stik in hiz stomake a too dayz 
after : (Sum hard message from the higher officers, perceiue 
ye me ?) Vpon search, hiz faithfuU dealing and diligens 
hath found him fautles. In afternoons & a nights, sumtime 
am I with the right worshipfull Sir George Howard, az good 
a Gentlman as ony liuez : And sumtime at my good Lady 
Sidneis^ chamber, a Noblewooman that I am az mooch 
boound vntoo, as ony poore man may bee vnto so gracyous 
a Lady : And sumtime in sum oother place ; But alwayez 
among the Gentlwemen^ by my good will (0, yee kno that 
cum alweyez of a gentle spirite) ; & when I see cumpany ac- 
cording, than can I be az lyuely to ; sumtyme I foote it with 
daunsing : noow with my Gittern, and els with my Cittern, 



1 give Mm a good dig in the ribs. 

2 Mary, the sister of Eohert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, wife of Sir Henry 
Sydney, K.G. Their son, Robert Sydney, was created Baron Sydney of Pens- 
hurst, in Kent, 13th May, 1603 ; created Viscount L'Isle, May 4, 1605; and 
on 2 August, 1618, Earl of Leicester. — Nicolas's Peerage, ii. 630. 

' See note - on next page. 



60 How Laneham sings to the Ladies, and is in love. 

then at the Virgynalz^ : — Ye kno nothing cums amisse to mee : 
— ^then Carroll I vp a song- withalP^ that by and by they com 
flocking about me lyke beez too hunny : and euer they cry, 
r , gg 1 '' anoother, good Langham, anoother !" Shall I tell 

you? fwlien I see Misterz (A! see a madde 

knaue ! I had almost toUde all !) that shee gyuez onz but an ey 
or an ear : why^ then man, am I blest ! my grace, my corage, 
my cunning iz doobled : She sayz sumtime she likez it, & then 
I like it mooch the better; it dooth me good to heer hoow 
well I can doo. And, too say truth : what, with myne eyz, az I 
can amoroously gloit it, with my Spanish sospires,^ my French 

* The musical instruments principally in use in barbers' shops, during the 
16th. and I7th. centuries were the cittern, the gitterii, the lute, and the virgi- 
nals. Of these the cittern . . was in shape somewhat like the English guitar 
of the last century, but had only four double strings of wire, i. e. two to each 
note . . . The peculiarity of the cittern, or cithren, was that the third string 
was tuned lower than the fourth, so that if the first or highest string waa 
tuned to e, the third would be the g below, and the fourth the intermediate h . . 
The git tern . . Ritson rightly says, differed chieily from the cittern in being 
strung with gut instead of wire. It was in fact a guitar. In the catalogue of 
musical instruments left in the charge of Philip von Wilder at the death of 
Henry VIII, we find " four Gitterons, which are called Spanish vialles." These 
were guitars with six strings, for, at this time, the Spanish guitar had but 
four strings, and the Spaniards gave the name of Vihuela to those with six. 
In the old play of ' Lingua ' we read 

'Tis true the finding of a dead horse-head 
Was the first invention of string instruments, 
Whence rose the Gitteme, Viol and the Lute. 

Dodsley's Old Flays, vol. v., p. 198 ... . 
The virginals (probably so called because chiefly played upon by young girls) 
resembled in shape the ' square ' pianoforte of the present day, as the harpsi- 
chord did the ' grand.' The sound of the pianoforte is produced by a hammer 
striking the strings ; but when the keys of the virginal or harpsichord were 
pressed, th.Q jacks (slender pieces of wood, armed at the upper end with quills) 
were raised to the strings, they acted as plectra, by impinging, or twitching 
them. — ChappeU's Popular Music, vol. i. p. 101-4. See also p. 35, 98, 248, 
764, etc. 
2 Compare Hugh Rhodes's Boke of Nurture in the Babees Book, p. 85, 
A plyaunt seruaunt gets fauour to his great aduauntage ; 
Promoted shall he be in offyce or fee, easilier to lyue in age. 
Vse honest pastyme, talke or synge, or some Instrument vse : 
Though they be thy betters, to heare they will thee not refuse. 

(1. 129-36.) 
And as to the ' Gentlwemen ' above, compare Ehodes's further directions, 
p. 86, 

For your preferment resorte to such as may you vauntage : 
Among Gentlemen for their rewards ; to honest dames for maryage . . . 
Honest qualUtyes and gentle, many men doth advaunce 
To good maryages, trust me, and their names doth inhaunce. (1. 141-52.) 
^ Laneham gives in this passage a specimen of making love in the various 
languages in which he was skilled. Suspiro, in the Spanish tongue, signifies 



Laneham's Singing. Why he's so bookish. 61 

heighes, mine Italian dulcets, my Dutch houez, 
yp lyQ luy doobl releas, my lay reacbez, my fine feyning-, 

my deep diapason, my wanton warblz, my running-, 
my tyming, my tuning, and my twynkling, I can gracify the 
matters az well az the prowdest of them ; and waz yet neuer 
staynd, I thank God. By my troth, cuntreman, it iz sumtim 
by midnight ear I CQ.n get from them. And thus haue I 
told ye most of my trade, al the leeue long daye : what will 
ye more ? God saue the Queene and my Lord ! I am well, I 
thank yoo. 

Heerwith ment I fully to bid ye farewell, had not this 
doubt cum to my minde, that heer remainz a doout in yoo, 
which I ought (me thought) in any wyze to cleer : Which 
iz, ye maruel perchauns to see me so bookish. Let me tell 
yoo in few woords : I went to scool forsooth both at Pollez, 
r*p 86 1 ^ *allso at Saint Antoniez : in the fifth foorm, past 

Esop fabls iwys, red Terens : " Yos istsec intro au- 
ferte ;" & began with my Virgill " Tytire tu patulee.^^ I coold' 
my rulez, coold conster & pars with the best of them. Syns 
that, az partly ye kno, haue I traded the feat of marchaun- 
dize in sundry Cuntreyz, & so gat me Langagez, which 
do so littl hinder my Latten, az (I thank God) haue mooch 
encreast it. I haue leizure sumtime, when I tend not vpon 
the coounsell : whearby, now look I on one booke, noow on 
an other. Stories I delight in, the more auncient & rare, the 
more likesum vntoo mee. If I tolld ye, I lyked William 
a Malmesbery so well, bicauz of hiz diligenz & antiquitee. 
Perchauns ye woold conster it bicauz I lone Mamzey so 
well : but, I feith ! it iz not so : for sipt I no more Sak & 
suger (& yet neuer but with company) then I doo Malmzey, 
I should not blush so moch a dayz as I doo : ye kno my 
minde. Well, noow ! thus fare ye hartily well ! y feith ! if with 
wishing it coold haue been, ye had had a buk or too this 
soomer; but we shal cum neerer shortly, & then shal we merely 
meet ; &, grace a God ! in the mean time commeiid me, I be- 
sek yo, vntoo my good freends, almost most of them your 
rc g.^ 1 neighbors. Master § Allderman Pullison^, a speciall 

freende of mine : and, in ony wise, too my good old 
freend Master Smith, Custumer^, by that same token, " Set 

a very deep sigh ; He, in the French, expresses the emotions of the soul in 
love ; Dolce, in Italian, means dear or beloved ; and in Dutch, Hoofsheid is 
the word for courtship. — Burn, p. 114; Nichols, i. 483. 

' knew ; as in * coold hiz lesson,' p. 38. 

• Afterwards Sir Thomas Pullison, and Lord Mayor in 1584. — Nichols and 
Burn. - ^ See p. 45, note. 



62 Laneham's Farewell. 

my hors vp too the rak, & tlien lets haue a cup of Sak !" — He 
knoez the token well ynough_, & wil laugh^ I hold ye a grote. 
— Too Master Thorogood : And too my mery cumpanion (a 
Mercer^ ye wot, az we be,) Master Denman, " Mio fratello in 
Christo :" he iz woont too summon me by the name of " Ro. 
La. of the Coounty Nosingham', Gentlman." A good com- 
panio?ij I feyth ! Well, onez again, fare ye hartely well ! 
From the Coourt. At the Citee of Worceter, the xx of 
August, 1575. 

Yor couutreeman, companion, & freend assuredly : 
Mercer, Merchantauenturer, and Clark of the Councel- 
chamber door, and also keeper of the same : El Prencipe 
negro. Par me, R. L. Gent. Mercer. 



DE MAIE STATE REGIA 

Benigno. 

Cedant arma togce, concedat laurea lingua, 
lactanter Cicero, ad iustius illud hahe : 

Cedant arma toga, vigil et toga cedat lionori, 
Omnia concedant Imperioqne suo. 

DEO OPT. MAX. GEJTI^. 



' I don't take this to be a mistake for Nottingham, but a quiz on Laneham's 
nose, which, as his cheeks blusht so much (p. 61), must have been red too. 



^i^slwiSisAjJs^,^ 



— rd 




**«S«P 



63 



APPENDIX. 

The following is the report of King Henry A-^III.'s surveyors on 
Kenilworth. 

[Cott. MS. Vesp. F. ix. leaf 302.] 
The Castle of Killingworth, situate vpon a Eock. 

[Ci]rcuit. 1. The Circuite whereof within the walls eonteyneth 

7. acres^ vpon w^ich the walks are so spacious & faire 
that two or three persons may walke together vpon most places 
thereof, 

TB "lildin"- ^" ^^® Castle with the 4 Gatehouses all built of 

°' freestone hewen and cutt ; the walls in many places 
of 15. & 10. foot thicke, some more, some lesse, the least fower 
foot in thicknes square. 

C e 'no- ^' '^^^^ Castle & 4. Gatehouses all covered with 

°' Lead, whereby it is subiect to no other decay then 
the glasse, through the extremity of weather. 
TRloo es ^' '^'^^ Hoomes of great State within the same, & 

such as are able to receaue his Majesty, the Queen, & 
Prince, at one tyme, built with as much vniformity and conve- 
niency as any houses of later tyme ; and with such stately Sellars, 
all caried vpon pillars, and Architecture of free stone earned and 
wrought, as the like are not within this Kingdome ; and also all 
other houses for Offices aunswerable. 

5. There lieth about the same in Chases and Parks 
Kr&^^ ^^^^" P^^ annwm ; 900". whereof are grounds for 

pleasure, — the rest in meadow & pasture thereto ad- 
ioyning, Tennants and freeholders. 

6. There ioyneth vpon this ground a Parklike 
coiDses " ground, called the Kings wood, with 15. seuerall 

Coppisses lyeug altogether, conteyning 789. acres 
within the same ; wAich, in the Earle of Leicesters tyme, were 
stored with Bed deere. Since wAich, the Deere stroyed;* but 
the ground in no sort blemished, having great store of Tymber & 
other Trees of much valewe vpon the same. 
rPloole '^' ^^^^^^ runneth through the said grounds by the 

walls of the said Castle a faire Poole, conteyning 111 
acres, well stored with fish and fowle, w7«ch at pleasure is to be 
lett round about the Castle. 

8. In Tymber and woods vpon theis grounds to 
woS. *^^^ v^l^^ (as ^a*^ ^^^^ offred) of 20,0001* . hauing 

a convenient tyme to remove them ; which to his 
Majestie, in the Suruey, are but valewed at 117221', — which pro- 

' have been destroyed. 




Ground Plan of Kexilworth Castlf.. 

Palaliai 1350 — rSso — iS?©. 



64 _ Appendix. — Survey of Kenilworth. 

portion, in a like measure, is held in all the rest vpon the other 
valewes to his Ma;Vsty. 

rColm-Dasse ^' ^^^ Circuits of the Castle, Manors, Parks, and 
Chase, lieing round, together couteyne at least 19. or 
20. miles, in a pleasaunt Countrey, — the like both for strength, 
state, and pleasure uot being ■^/thin the Eealme of England. 
rSulruev ^^' '^^^^^^ lands haue been s^o-ueied by Commis- 

sion's from the King and the Jjord Priuy seale, we'th 
direccions from his luordsJii-p to finde all things vnder the true 
worth, and vpon oath of Jnrotirs, aswell freeholders, as Custumary 
Tenazmts ; viJiich. course being held by them are notwz'thstanding 
surveied and i-eturned at 38,554;^ 15* Out of w/ifch, for Sir Eober^ 
Dudley's Contempt, there is to be deducted 10000^. ; for the 
La% Dudley's Joynture, wAzch is w/thout ympeachment of wast, 
whereby she may sell all the woods, (w7»'ch by the Suruey amount 
vnto 11722^.) what shalbe thought reasonable. 

li. s. 

The Totall of the Suruey ] (^^^^^^^^^ • * '^5722 2 
arisethasfoUoweth,Yiz.:-j |^^J^g°^^^; ; '.^q— ^ 

j^g^^^g 11. His Majestie hath herein the meane profitts of 

the Castle and premisses through S/r 'Robert Dudley's 
Contempt, during his life or his 'Ma.jestie's Pardon. The Keuer- 
c^on in fee being in the Itord priuy seale. 



65 



NOTES ON LANEHAM'S LETTEE. 

P. 2. Ayr siveet and JioUstim. — See the interesting chap. 3 of 
Andrew Boorde'a Dyetary, p. 235 of my edition of Boorde, 1870. 
Also chapter 2, on the site of a house. 

P. 3. Tlie Bridge. — This dry valley was partly filled up by 
Col. Haukeswortli, ab. 1650, when he dismantled the Castle, but 
part still remains. It is in fact the original Norman moat (1135) 
which was dried, and pai'tly filled up, when at the close of the 
12th century Greoifrey Clinton's successors threw out a more 
extensive line of fortifications. — E. H. Knowles. 

P. 3. — In the year of 642, Penda, King of Mercia, invaded the 
dominions of Oswald, King of Northumberland; who was slain 
after a fierce battle at Maserfield. Burthred, or Buthred, wlio is 
mentioned in the context, was the last King of Mercia ; whose 
kingdom was invaded in 874', by the West- Saxons, under Alfred. 
Tims overpowered he fled to Eome, where he died. — Burn's ed. of 
Laneham, p. 94 ; Nichols, i. 428. 

P. 6. — The Porter burst out, in verses ' devised and pronounced 
by Master Badger of Oxford, Master of Arts, and Bedel in the 
same University,' and given in Oascoigne, p. 7, ed. 1821. 

P. 6. — See Malory's Kyng Arthur, bk. i. cap. xxv. Soo they 
rode tyl they came to a lake, the whiche was a fayr water, and 
brood. And in the myddes of the lake, Arthur was ware of an 
arrae clothed in whyte samyte, that held a fayr swerd in that 
hand. "Loo," said Merlyn, "yonder is that swerd that I spak 
of." With that they sawe a damoisel goyng vpon the lake. 
" What damoysel is that?" said Arthur. "That is the ladt oe 
TUE LAKE," said Merlyn ; " And within that lake is a roche ; and 
theryn is as fayr a place as ony on erthe, and rychely beseene ; 
and this damoysell wylle come to yow anone ; and thenne speke 
ye fayre to her, that she will gyue yow that swerd." 

P. 7, 9. Musical Instruments. — Lord Warren and De Tabley 
has been kind enough to lend me a MS Commonplace book of his 
ancestor Sir Philip Leycester, dated 1656, that the musical part 
may be edited by I3r. Rimbault for the Early English Text Society. 
But as several of the instruments mentioned by Laneham are 
described in it, I extract the bits relating to them. 
r*leaf 86 back 1 " *^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^® amisse here to insert the severall 
Kinds of Musicall Instruments now of most Vse in 
England, as they be now vsed, 1656. . . . 

[tleafS?.! "fOf Single Wynd Instruments, the most excellent 
are the Cornet, the Slialme, & Sackbut, 



6Q Notes on Laneham's hetter, Musical Instruments, p. 7, 9. 

" The Cornet is about two foote in length ; not so streight as 
the Shahne ; but with a little bendinge or Incurvation ; it is bored 
through, & hath little holes at the side thereof, w^«"ch, beinge 
stopt with the fingers, gives the variety of Soundes ; & yeildeth a 
shrill-quakinge-Sound, wAfch is produced by the Art of the Mouth, 
as the Hunt's-man's Home & Trumpet are caused by the blast of 
the mouth. 

r*leaf 87 back 1 " *T^^ Shalme is made of Wood, & after the 
same manner of the Cornet, & about the same 
length, bored thorough also, with little holes at the side, to be 
stopt with the fingers, for distinction of Soundes. This is a 
streight Piece of Wood, & hath a Eeede put into the Smaller end 
thereof (which is made artificially, & bound about the Lower end 
with a Thred), which with the blast of the mouth causeth a shrill 
Sound, & is done with lesse straininge then the Cornet, which. 
hath no Eeede, but the Sound thereof forced with the Mouth. 
^The greater end of it is made in forme of a little Bell, like the 
end of a Trumpet^. 

" The Sackbut is made of Brasse or Alchimy^, & gives distinc- 
rtleaf 88 1 ^^^'^ ^^ Soundes, not by holes, as other Pipes, fbut by 
movinge the outward part of it higher or Lower ; for 
there is a Devise vppon it, to be drawne vp & downe. The Sound 
of it is caused by the blast of the mouth ; & it hath some resem- 
blance to a Trumpet. This Instrument giveth a Deepe Sound, & 
is to play the Basse-parte. 

" There are also of an inferiour Kind, as Fluits, Recorders, 
Bag- PIPES, — & these last both greater & lesse, — so called because 
they have bags fastened to the Pipe, w^ich, beinge stuft with the 
wind of the Mouth, causeth the Sounde. But these Pipes are 
never vsed by any Artists in Musicke ; but by the more Eusticall 
Sorte of People. 

r+leaf 88 back 1 " +The Stringed Instruments now in vse are two 
'■'^ " fold, either Grut-stringes or Wyre-stringes. 

" Instruments with Gut-stringes are of Three sortes. 

" 1 The Harpe, which is made in forme of a Triangle, & hath 
the stringes open on both sides, for either hande to play with all : 
& is played vppon with the fingers of both handes. 

" 2 The Lute, which is made with a Round backe, like a halfe- 
Globe, the belly of it flat & even to the finger-board. This is 
playd vppon with the fingers of the right hand, & stoppinge the 
rsieaf 891 ^^^^^ '^i^'^ ^^^ ^^ft hand on the finger-board. §It hath 
sometymes 24 strings, sometimes 19 stringes ; and some- 
tymes lesse, as pleaseth the Musitian to have it. 

" Of this Kind is the Theorbo, beinge only a Basse-Lute : 
made larger to carry a Deepe Sounde. 

i-i Written in the margin, - ? tin. 



Notes on Lanehami's Letter, Musical Instruments, p. 7-9. 67 

" 3 The ViOLE : wMch is either Treble, Tenour, or Base, ac- 
cordinge to its magnitude : These have onely Sixe stringes a peece, 
and are played vppon -^ith. a Bowe. 

" of this Sorte also is the Violin, w/n'ch hath but fowre stringes, 
& is the least sort: w/zech carryes an excellent Treble parte; 
save onely this hath no frets on the fingerboard (because of its 
littlenes) as the other Violes have ; but the notes on this are 
strooke by the Eare. 

r*leaf' 89 back 1 " *Iiistruments with Wyre-stringes are of fowre 
sorts. 

1 ViRQiNALLS. These are made with Keyes, as the Organs : 
and indeed is nothinge else but a stringed Organ. 

from these the Haepsicalls & double Harpsicalls are deduced ; 
all made after the same manner. 

2 Orphabion : w/z/ch is onely a Wyre-stringed Lute; save 
the forme of the backe of this is made more flat, the Lute more 
round : & from this the Bandoea^ (as we call it) somewhat larger ; 
rtleaf 90 1 ^'^® ffrets on the finger-board of these beinge made 

of fbrasse, w^zch is layd into the Wood ; but the ffreta 
of the Lute & Violes are made of Stringes tyed about the finger- 
board. 

" 3 Haepe : wZf/ch we vsually call the Irish harpe, as most 
vsed by them, with Wyre-strings : the other called by vs The 
Welsh-Harpe, with Gut-stringes. 

" 4 The PsiTTTEHE ; & from thence the Gitteene : of w^/ch I 
haue made mention before, fo. 85. [The passage at leaf 85 about 
the Pisittyrne^ is, "This Instrument is not so apt for the voyce as 
the Lute or Viole, but yeilds a Sweete and Gentle Sound, wAich 
the name importeth : for ij/i6vpa is a Greeke word, & commeth of 
ij/t6vpo<;, v;hic\\ signifyes ' a whisperinge Sound '; like to which is 
the sound of this Instrument : some write it ' Cithareu,' — but 
falsely, — for ' Psithyren,' &, by contraction, ' Psittyrne.' It con- 
tayneth fowre Course of stringes, as at this day we vse it, each 
Course beinge doubled, havinge two Stringes of one sound in each 
course : They are Wire Stringes : & is played vppon with a little 
peice of a Quill or Pen, wherewith the Stringes be touched. It is 
now vsually taught by Letters, not by Notes of Musicke. 



* Bandora, a musicall Instrument with Wyre-strings, so called ; first made 
by John Kose, dwellinge in Bridewell, anno 4° Eliz: 1562, who left a sonne 
farre excellinge himselfe in makinge Instruments. Howes continuation of Stoiv : 
pag : 869. — Sir P. Leycester's Index to his MS. 

2 This is preceded by an account of the two best " Psithyrists. For the 
little Instrument called a Psittyrne, Anthony Holborne and Tho : Eobinson 
were most famous of any before them, and haue both of them set out a Booke 
of Lessons for this Instrument. Holborne hath composed a Basse-parte for 
the Viole to play vnto the Psittyrne with those Lessons Set out in his booke : 
these lived about Anno Dowmi 1600." 

p2 



68 Notes on Laneliam^s Letter, p. 7-17. 

Like vnto this is tlie Instrument we now vsually do'' call a 
GiTTEENE, w^«ch indeed is onely a Treble Psittyrne, beinge 
somewhat lesse then the other, yeildinge a more Treble Smart 
Sound, havinge tlie same number & the same Order of Wynd- 
strings, & playd vppon with a Quill, after the same order as the 
Psittyrne ; onely some variation in the Tuninge, w^ech may also 
be varyed in the Psittyrne at pleasure.] 

" To these may be added the Apopret, brought into England 
about 1644, which is playd on with two little sticks ; in either 
hand one ; & hath Wyre-stringes, onely 4 Course. 

" These I thought good to mention here, that Posterity may 
know the difference of them, and likewise what new Inventions 
shall be found out afterwards." 

P. 12. Sunday Dauncing. — 

He know to dance on Sundays. 

Little Thief, A. iij.~E. H. Knowles. 

P. 13. The Chase. — There is a spot in the Chase still called the 
Queen's Standing-Ground. Cf. Sir Walter Scott's Waverley, 
ch. iii. — E. H. Knowles. 

P. 13. Earning of the hoounds. — Earn or Yorne is a term of 
art : compare Vallentine (tlie Courtier) . . I confesse I am vnskil- 
fuU, yet vnlesse I bee much deceaued, I haue hard hounds harhe 
by night, & haue scene foulers ketch Woodcockes in colde 
weather. 

Vincent (the Cuntrey- Gentleman) In deede it may bee you 
haue hard sumtimes hounds yorne (for so you ought to terme it) 
by night ; and I suppose the winter weather, and hard, is fittest 
for ketching of Woodcockes in deede. 1586. The English Courtier 
and the Cuntrey -gentleman, p. 55-6, ed. 1868, Eoxburghe Library. 

P. 16. Bearhaiting. — So too Arthur Golding in his ' Discourse 
upon the Earthquake ' on April 6, 1580 " The Saboth dayes and 
holy dayes, ordayned for the hearing of Gods word, to the refor- 
mation of our lyves .... and finally for the speciall occupying of 
our selves in all spirituall exercizes, is spent full heathenishly in 
taverning, tipling, gaming, playing, and beholding of Beare- 
baytings and Stage-playes, to the utter djshonor of God, impeach- 
ment of all godlyuesse, and unnecessarie consuming of mennes 
substances, which ought to be better employed." (Quoted in 
Collier's Stationers' Registers, ii. 118.) 

P. 17. Nyez. — A vulgarism. 

Tour pale seekes & hollow nyes. 

The Little Thief Act IV.— E. H. Knowles. 

? pinken eyes. There is a singular coincidence between Lane- 
ham's description of a bear-fight, and that given in the Eomance 
of " Kenilworth," where the Earl of Sussex presents a petition 

1 ' tearme a Kit some ' is struck ont, and ' Gittern ' written at the side. 



Notes on Laneham\t Letter, p. 26-32. 69 

from Oraon Pinnit, keeper of the Royal Bears, against Shakespeare 
and the players. It is evident that the author of " Kenilworth " 
had the passage in his mind ; and as the reader may also like to 
compare the two passages, an extract from the Romance is here 
inserted : " There you may see the bear lying at guard with his 
red pinky eyes, watching the onset of the mastiff like a wily cap- 
tain, who maintains his defence, that an assailant may be tempted 
to venture within his danger." See Kenilworth, vol. ii. p. 129. — 
Burn, p. 98 ; Nichols, i. 439. Ken. III. says ' pink nyez ' — winking- 
eyes. Dutch inncTcen, to wink. P. 15, note 1. 

P. 26. Coventry . . is a faire, famous, sweet, and ancient City, 
so walled about with such strength and neatnesse, as no City in 
England may compare with it : in the wals (at severall places) are 
13 Gates and Posterns whereby to enter and issue too and from 
the City ; and on the wals are 18 strong defensible Towers, which 
do also beautifie it : in the City is a faire and delicate Crosse, 
which is for structure, beauty, and workmanship, by many men 
accounted unmatchable in this Kingdome ; although my selfe, 
with some others, do suppose that of Abington in Berkeshire will 
match it ; and I am sure the Crosse in Cheapside at London doth 
farre out-passe it. (1639. John Taylor. Fart of this Summers 
Travels, p. 9.) 

P. 26, margin. Florilegus. — ? = Matthew of Westminster. — 
E. H. Knowles. 

P. 31. Musters.— In the Musters taken in 1574 and 1575 a.d. 
printed in Household Ordinances, p. 270-1, Warwick figures for 
300 able men, 978 armed men, 300 artificers and pyoneers, 16 
demi-lances, and 90 light-horse. 

P. 31. Nippitate. — 

Fompiona, Princess of Moldavia. 
Oft have I heard of your brave countrymen, 
And fertile soil, and store of wholesome food. 
My father oft will tell me of a drink 
In England found, and Nipitato call'd. 
Which, driveth all the sorrow from your hearts. 

Ralph. Lady, 'tis true : you need not lay your lips 
To better Nipitato than there is. 

Beaumont and Eletcher, Knirjht of the Burning Festle, 
Act iv, Scene 2, Works, ed. Darley, 1840, vol. ii, 
p. 90, col. 2. 

P. 32. An Amhrosiall Banhet . . disshez . . a three hundred. — 
A dinner in London in 1569 is thus described : 

This day, my Lords his speciall friende 
must dyne with him (no naye), 



70 Notes on Laneham's Letter, p. 32. 

His Partners, Friendes and Aldermen : 

wherefore he must puruaye 
Both Capon, Swan, and Hernshoe good, 

fat Bitture, Larcke, and Quayle : 
Eight Plouer, Snype, and Woodcock fine, 

with Curlew, Wype^, and Rayle : 
Stonetiuets", Teale, and Pecteales good, 

with Bustard fat and plum, 
Fat Pheasaunt Powt, and Plouer base 

for them that after come. 
Stent, Stockard, Stampine, Tawterueale, 

and Wigeon of the best: 
Puyt^, Partrich, Blackbirde and 

fnt Shoueler with the rest. 
Two Warrants eke he must prouide 

to haue some Venson fat. 
And meanes heele make for red Deere too, 

(there is no nay of that.) 
And needefully he must prouide 

(although we speake not ont) 
Both Peacock, Crane, and Turkicock, 

and (as such men ax'e wont,) 
He must foresee that he ne lacke [Sign. D. iii.] 

colde bakemetes in the ende : 
With Custards, Tarts, and Florentines, 

the bancquet to amende. 
And (to be short, and knit it vp) 

he must not wanting see 
Straunge kindes of fysh at second course 

to come in their degree, 
As Porpesse, Seale and Salmond good, 

with Sturgeon of the best, 
And Turbot, Lobster, with the lyke 

to furnish out the feast. 
All this theyle haue, and else much more, 

sydes Marchpane and greene Cheese, 
Stewde wardens. Prunes, & sweete conserues, 

with spiced Wine like Lees, 
Greeneginger, Sucket, Suger Plate, 

and Marmaladie fine, 
Blauncht Almonds, Peares and Ginger bread ; 

But Peares should we assigne 
And place before (as meete it is) 

at great mens boordes ; for why, 

' Lapwing. ^ p gtonechat. ' Peewit. 



Notes on Laneham's Letter, p. 32-36. 71 

Kawe fruites are first in seruice styll', 
Else Seruing men doo lye. 
1575. E. Hake. Newes out of Powles Churcbyarde. 

Sign. D. ii. back, and D iii. 

P. 33. — This device of the Lady of the Lake was also by Master 
Hunnis (p. 5, note 4, above). He had also designed a prelimi- 
nary night skirmish on the water between the Lady of the Lake's 
men and Sir Bruce's, all floating upon heaps of bulrushes ; but 
this was not carried out. The speeches of Triton to the Queen, 
and the winds, etc., the Lady of the Lake's speech, and the Song 
of Proteus, all in verses, which " as I think, were penned, some by 
Master Hunnis, some by Master Eerrers, and some by Master 
Groldingham," ai'e given in Gascoiqne's Princ. Fleas, p. 23-8, 
ed. 1821. 

P. 34. Syr Bruse saunspitee. — See Sir E. Strachey's modernised 
edition of Malory's Morte D' Arthur, bk. ix. ch. 41, p. 235. " Sir 
knight, said the lady [to Sir Dinadan] I am the wofuUest lady of 
the world; for within these five days here came a knight called 
Sir Breuse Sance Pite, and he slew mine own brother, and ever 
since he hath kept me at his own will ; and of all the men in the 
world I hate him most." See also p. 301. Sir Breuse and Sir 
Dinadan are from the Erench Romance of the Prophecies de 
Merlin, — Mr. Hy. Ward of the Brit. Mus. tells me, — as are also 
Alisander le Orphelin and Alice la Beale Pilgrime, p. 268, 273, 
455 of Strachey's Malory. 

Arion. — " There was a spectacle presented to Q. Elizabeth 
vpon the water, and amongst others, Harry Goldingham was 
to represent Arion vpon the Dolphin's backe ; but finding his 
voice to be very hoarse and vnpleasant when he came to perforrae 
it, he teares of his disguise, and sweares he was none of Arion ; 
not he ! but eene honest Harry Goldingham, — which blunt disco- 
verie pleas'd the Queene better then if it had gone thorough in 
the right way. Yet he could order his voice to an instrument 
exceeding well."— Para. 221, of Harl. MS. 6895— a book of 
" Merry Passages & Jeasts," collected by Sir Nicholas L'Estrange 
of Hunstanton, Bart., who died in 1669. 

P. 35. Kings Evil. — Eor a form of prayer, see Maskell, Monu- 
menta Situalia, vol. iii. — E. H. Knowles. See Andrew Boorde on 
the King's Evil, p. 91-93, 121, of my edition, 1870. 

P. 36. A Devise of Goddesses and Nymphes. — A very particular 
account of this intended " Devise " [in two acts] will be found in 
Gascoigne {Princely Pleasures, p. 30-53), who was the author of 
it. — Nichols, i. 419 ; Ken. III. p. 26, note 2. It was ' prepared 
and ready, (every actor in his garment) two or three days together, 

^ frutes afore mete, to ete hem fastyngely. — ab. 1440 a.d. JRussell's Boke of 
Nurture, Babees Book, p. 162, 1. 667. 



72 Notes on Laneham^s Letter : Rvffs, p. 36. 

yet never came to execution. The cause whereof I cannot attri- 
bute to any other thing than to lack of opportunity and reasonable 
weather.' — Ih. p. 53. 

P. 37. Buffs fayr starched, etc. — ^The pains bestowed by our an- 
cestors upon their Ruffs is little known to the general reader, 
who will be surprised to find from the ensuing extracts, that it 
fully equalled the Dandyism of the present day. In the " Second 
part of the Anatomic of Abuses, by P. Stubbes, 1583," is the fol- 
lowing dialogue : 

" Theod. I haue heard it saide that they vse great ruffes in 
Dnalgne [England], do they continue them still as they were 
woont to doe, or not ? 

AmpJiil. There is no amendement in any thing that I can see, 
neither in one thing nor in other, but euery day woorser and 
woorser, for they not only continue their great ruffes still, but 
also vse them bigger than euer they did. And wheras before they 
were too bad, now they are past al shame & honestie, yea most 
abhominable and detestable, and such as the diuell himselfe would 
be ashamed to weare the like. And if it be true, as I heare say, 
they haue their starching houses made of purpose, to that vse and 
end only, the better to trimme and dresse their ruffes to please 
the diuels eies withall. 

Theod. Haue they starching houses of purpose made to starch 
in ? Now truly that passes of all that euer I heard. And do they 
nothing in those brothell houses (starching houses I shuld say) 
but onelie starch bands and ruffes ? 

Amphil. No, nothing else, for to that end only were they 
erected, & therfore now are consecrate to Belzebub and Cerberus 
arch diuels of great ruffes. 

Theod. Haue they not also houses to set their ruffes in, to trim 
them, and to trick them, as well as to starch them in ? 

Amphil. Yea marry haue they, for either the same starching 
houses (I had almost said farting houses) do serue the turn, or 
or else they haue their other chambers and secret closets to the 
same vse, wherein they tricke vp these cartwheeles of the 
diuels eharet of pride, leading the direct way to the dungeon of 
hell. 

AmphiP. What tooles and instruments haue they to set their 
ruffes withall. For I am persuaded they cannot set them artifi- 
cially inough without some kind of tooles ? 

Amphil. Very true : and doe you thinke that they want any 
thing that might set forth their diuelrie to the world ? In faith 
sir no, then the diuell were to blame if he should serue his clients 

' Quotccl in Nictols's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 460, note 4 ; 
but our quotation from Stubbes is taken direct from the original. 
* Mistake for Theod. 



Notes on Laneham's Letter : Ruffs, p. 36. 73 

so, that maintaiue his kingdome of pride with such diligence as 
they doe. And therefore I would you wist it, they haue their 
tooles and instruments for the purpose. 

Theod. "Whereof be they made I pray you, or howe ? 

AmphiP-. They be made of yron and Steele, and some of brasse, 
kept as bright as siluer, yea and some of siluer it selfe, and it is 
well, if in processe of time they grow not to be gold. The fashion 
whereafter they be made, I cannot resemble to any thing so well 
as to a squirt, or a squibbe, which little children vsed to squirt 
out water withall : and when, they come to starching, and setting 
of their ruffes, than must this instrument be heated in the fire, 
the better to stiffen the ruffe. For you know heate will drie, and 
stiffen any thing. And if you woulde know the name of this 
goodly toole, forsooth the deuill hath giuen it to name a putter, 
or else a putting sticke, as I heare say. They haue also another 
instrument called a setting sticke, either of wood or bone, and 
sometimes of gold and siluer, make forked wise at both ends, and 
with this {Si diis placet) they set their ruffes. But bicause this 
cursed fruit is not yet grown to his full perfection of ripenesse, 
I will therefore at this time say no more of it, vntil I here more." 

The same caustic writer also mentions that the ruffes have a 
support or under-propper, called a supportasse^. Stowe informs 
us, that "about the sixteenth yeare of the Queene (Elizabeth) 
began the use of steel poking-sticTcs, and until that time all lawn- 
dresses used setting-sticks made of wood or bone." 

In Marston's Malcontent, 1604, is the following observation, 
" There is such a deale of pinning these ruffes, when the fine clean 
fall is worth them all." And again, "If you should chance to 
take a nap in an afternoon, your falling-band requires no poking- 
stick to recover his form." 

Middleton's comedy o^ Blurt Master Constable, 1602, has this 
passage : " Your ruff' must stand in print, and for that purpose 
get poking-sticTcs with fair long handles, lest they scorch your 
bauds." To conclude this long note, take the following extract 
from Laio Tricks, 1608 : 

" Broke broad jests upon her narrow wheel, 
Poked her rabatoes, and surveyed her steel !" 

Cotgrave explains rabai, " a Rebatoe for a womans ruffe ; also a 
falling-band." Menage says from raiattre, to put back, because 
it was at first nothing but the collar of the shirt or shift turned 
back towards the shoulders. 

See another curious passage on Euffs in the Anafomie of Abuses, 
1583, leaf 22, back. 

^ Printed Amhpil. ^ Wrongly printed sttppertasse in Nichols. 



74 Notes on Laneham's Letter, p. 38-43. 

P. 38.— Cp. Chaucer's Miller : " a Shefeld thwitel bare he in 
his hose." — Nichols, i. 462 ; Ken. III. p. 28. 
P. 38. Islington. — 

At Islington ther's Pudding Pies 
Hot Custards. 

M. Parker's New Medley, ii. back. — E. H. Knowles. 
P. 39. Solly Sood day. — This festival was instituted on account 
of the recovery of a large piece of the Cross, by the emperor 
Heraclius, after it had been taken away, on the plundering of 
Jerusalem by Cosroes, King of Persia, about 615. — Brand, i. 200, 
ed. Hazlitt. 

P. 39. Islington and cream. — 

Imagine Islington to be the place, 
The jornev to eat a'eam. 

ab. ]616. K. C. Times Whistle, p. 83, 1. 2602-3. 

P. 41 (^). — These stanzas are a versification of bk. 1, eh. 26, of 
Malory's edition ; ch. 24, p. 48, of Strachey's modernization (Mac- 
inillans), 1868. — 'In Caxton's edition, " La Morte d'Arthur," the 
chapter wlience this story is taken is entitled, " How the tydings 
came to Arthur that King Eyons had overcome xi kynges ; and how 
he desyred Arthur's berde to purfyl his mantel." With respect to 
the poetical tale given in the text, Dr. Percy, by whom it was 
printed in his " Reliques " (iii. 25), supposes the thought to have 
been originally taken from Jeffery of Monmouth's History. It 
has also been printed in " Percy Enderbie's Cambria Triumphans," 
with some variations in the text, which is probably much more 
pure than that used by Laneham, since it is stated to have been 
procured from "a manuscript in the library of the Royal Honour- 
able Thomas Lord Windesore." — Burn, p. 109: Nichols, i. 465. 

Ritson says of James Aske, who wrote Elizahetha triumphans, 
1588, ' The initials J. A., probablely those of this James Aske, 
are prefix'd and subscribe'd to "A defiance to K. A. [King 
Arthur] and his round table," at the end of Musarum delicice, 
1656 ; being the identical ballad intended to have been sung by 
the mock minstrel describe'd in Langhnms letter from Killing- 
worth, 1579; beginning "As it befell on a Pentecost day."' 
Bihliographia Poetica, p. 407. 

P. 41 (^). Huqtie, derived from the French huque, a cloak. — The 
tabards, or surcoats, of the ancient heralds, were often denominated 
houces, or housings ; and this expression was applied, indiscrimi- 
nately, to their coats of arms as well as to a dark-coloured robe 
without sleeves, edged with fur, which they formerly wore. — 
Burn, p. 109. 

P. 43. — Before Elizabeth went, a Farewell, — devised and spoken 
by Gascoigne as Sylvanus, god of the woods, — was presented 
before her ' as she went on hunting.' {Princ. Pleas, p. 53-74, 



Notes on Laneham's Letter, p. 43-53. 75 

ed. 1821.) It was nii elaborate speech of how the Gods rejoiced 
over her coming, and wept over her going ; how she's the loveliest 
of Diana's nymphs ; how she had turned her lovers iuto trees — 
Coiistaucy into au oak, Vainglory into au ash (first in bud, first to 
cast its leaf), etc. Then music playd from an arbour of holly. 
Deep- Desire spoke a poem to the Queen, and then sang a song 
(accompanied by music). 

P. 44. Middleton. — Liclifield and Worcester were both succes- 
sively honoured in this Progress. — Query, what Middleton is here 
meant. — Nichols, i. 468. 

P. 4^1.— Rok, a distaff.— See The Wright's Chaste Wife, 1. 503, 
508, and its Index. A distaff held in the hand, from which the 
wool was spun by a ball fixed below on a spindle, upon which 
every thread was wound up as it was done. It was the ancient 
way of spinning, and is still in use in many northern counties. 
Vide Bailey. — Burn, p. 110 ; Nichols, i. 471. 

P. 48. — The following description refers to that part of the 
Castle called " Leicester's Buildings," — Ken. III. p. 35. See the 
plan there, next to p. 55, and the engraving of the ruined build- 
ings, next p. 60. ' On a tablet below the middle window of the 
East front is the date of 1571.' 

P. 48. a heautifull Garden. — It was to give privacy to this 
garden that Leicester altered the whole north entrance, as the 
road from the Wridfen and from Coventry came right across it : 
so he altered the north towers, making an aviary of one, and built 
a new Grateway Tower down a hundred yards to the East. — E. H. 
Knowles. 

P. 48. a pleazaunt Terres. P. 53. sweet shadoed wallk of Terres. 
— This remains, ruined, but still 'sweet-shadoed.' To form it, 
Leicester probably filled up the northern division of the original 
Norman moat. — E. H. Knowles. 

P. 50. heaiven oout of hard Porphiry. — Poor Laneham was sadly 
hoaxed in this. Fragments of these so-called porphyry orbs have 
been found ; but they are of painted sandstone. The pillars also 
were not in one ' hole pees.' — E. H. Knowles. 

P. 53. strawheriez, cheryez. — Strawberries were rarely cultivated 
at this time, but gathered wild, as in Switzerland. The end of 
July was late for these cherries. (See Parker's Domestic Archi- 
tecture.) — E. H. Knowles. 

P. 53. — Windlass or Windless (in a Ship), a Drawbeam or piece 
of Timber having six or eight Squares, and fixt on the Stern aloft ; 
which is now only us'd in small Ships, and in Elemish Vessels that 
are lightly Manned. But it will purchase or draw up much more 
than any Capstan, in the weighing of an Anchor, and that without 
Danger to the Men that heave. — Kersey's Phillips, 1706. But 
? the context above points to Wanlass, a Term in Hunting, as 



*?^ Notes on Laneham^s Letter, p. 53-58. 

Driving the Wanlass, i. e. the driving of Deer to a stand ; which 
in some Latin Eecords is termed Fugatio Wanlassi ad Stahulum, 
and in Domesday-Book, Stahilitio Venationis. — lb. See the end 
of the ' windlesse,' p. 55. 

P. 55. Vyse, or bise. — " The lawe peces and creates were karued 
with Vinettes and trailes of sauage worke, and richely gilted with 
gold and Bise . . . the Arches were vawted with Armorie, all of 
Bice and golde . . . and in the hole arche was nothing but fine 
Bice & golds:'— HalVs Chronicle, ed. 1809, p. 722-3, a.d. 1527. 
Bis browne, duskie, swart, blackish. — Cotgrave. — Bice is a pale 
blue colour prepared from the Armenian stone, formerly brought 
from Armenia, but now from the silver mines of Grermany ; in 
consequence of which smalt is sometimes finely levigated, and 
called bice. The dials alluded to in the text were enamelled, and 
with the sun's reflection on the gold figures, heightened by the 
azure ground, must have had a most splendid appearance. — Burn, 
p. 113; Nichols, i. 478. 

P. 58. The Edict of Pacification. — This alludes to the famous 
Dictum de Kenelworth, An act allowing persons disinherited by 
the Parliament after the battle of Evesham to redeem their estates 
on paying a fine. — Ken. III. p. 20, 41, from Dugdale. See Statutes 
of the Bealm, ed. 1820, vol. i. p. 12. — Burn. 

P. 58. Then reddy, I go intoo the Chappell. — This must surely 
have been a room fitted up ex tempore : since Leicester had secu- 
larized the ' Capella Turris ' or chapel in the S.W. turret of the 
Keep, to insert a staircase ; and the larger or King's Chapel had 
certainly disappeared. — E. H. Knowles. 



77 



INDEX 



(For notes on the tnights made by Q. Elizabeth, p. 35, see Nichols's Pro- 
gresses. The birds named on p. 70, I had not time to identify on my last 
visit to town. Egham, 8 June, 1871.) 



a good, 41, heartily. 

a ten, 50. 

a thirtie yeer, 24, about 30 years. 

a to, 17, on one. 

Aehelous, 40. 

Actoeon, the tale of, cxlvii. 

Adam Bel, Clim of the Clough, and 

William of Cloudesley, liv. 
Adrian the gardener, 52. 
adulteration of milk &c., 39. 
Aeolus's gifts to the Queen, 40, 34. 
African birds at Kenilworth, 52. 
agglettes, 29, note. 
Aglaia, 46. 
alchimy, 66, tin.P 
alder pole, 21. 
Aldersgate Street, Cooks' yearly Feast 

in, on Sept. 14, p. 39. 
ale and beer, 72 tuns drunk in three 

days, 45. 
ale should stand all night, 58. 
aleauen, 42, eleven, 
alecunner, 31, ale-inspector. 
Alexander and Lodowyke, tale of, 

Ixiii. 
Alexander of Macedon, 57. 
Alisander le Orphelin, 71. 
Allemande, la ; a dance-figure, clxii, 

note 
Alman (a German) haye, a country 

dance, clxv. 
Almanacks, Captain Cox's, cxxxii. 
almonds, blancht, 70. 
Althamerus, 4, 

Altitonant, 12, loud thunderer, Jupi- 
ter, 
ambassadors, Laneham can talk to, 

59. 
ambassy, 33, message, 
amours, a dance-figure, clxi. 
anapes, 38, of Naples. 
Ancient Plays, Captain Cox's, cxviii. 
Antipodes, 48. 
apoprey, a musical iuitrument, T.S. 



apted, 35, 48, fitted, suited. 

artificial flowers, 46. 

artists in Musicke, 66. 

arberz, 2, arbours. 

archdevils, 72. 

architrave, 50. 

Arion, 34, 71. 

Armstrong, John, his dance, clxv. 

Arthour of litil bertangje, cxlv, Ar- 
thvu' of Brittany. 

Arthui', King, a poem on, 41, 74; 
an unidentified ballad on, exliv ; 
his book, 6 ; his days, 7. 

Arthur : King Arthurz book, xv. 

Ascham on La Morte JDarthur, xvi. 

Aske, James ; his poem on King 
Ai-thur, 74. 

Athlants, 50, athletes ? 

Atropos, 47. 

aunswerable, 63, answering in charac- 
ter, fitting. 

auaild, 50, gone down, ebbed. 

Aymon, the Four Sons of, xix, cxliii. 

Ayrton, Mr. Acton S., Commissioner 
of Her Majesty's Works, xii. 

Bacchus's presents to Queen Eliza- 
beth, 8, 45. 

backhouse, 23, bakehouse. 

Bacon, Lord Verulam, his motto, 54. 

Badger, Master, his verses, Co. 

bagpipes, 66. 

Bagshot, 31. 

bakemetes, 70. 

ballads and songs, distinction be- 
tween, clxvii. 

Ballads, Captain Cox's, cxxvi; En- 
glish and Scotch in the * Complaynt 
of Scotland,' a.d. 1548-9, cxlix. 

Ballads Printed: — 
Balow my Babe, ly still and wepe, 

clxx. 
Balow my Babe, frowne not on me, 
clxxi. 



78 



INDEX. 



allads printed (continued) : — 
By a baneke as I lay, cxxxi. 
Come over the burne, Basse, 

clxxxi. 
For ray pastyme, vpon a day (or 
' Colle to me the rysshys grene'), 
clii. 
Grevus ys my sorowe, clvi. 
In a glorius garden grene (or ' This 

day day dawes'), elix. 
In an humour I was of late (or 
'Hy ding a ding'), cxxxi (only 
one verse). 
O lusty May, with Flora queue, 

eliv. 
Off seruyng-men I wyll begyne, 
Troley loley, (or, ' So well is me 
begone '), cxxx. 
Pastyme with good companye, 

cxlix. 
Tlie lytyll prety nyghtyne gale, 

cxxviii note. 
Still under the levis grene, cl. 
Balow, the ballad of, clxviii ; two 

prints of, clxx. 
bandogs baiting a bear, 16. 
bandora, 67. 

banquet, an ambrosial, 32. 
Barbour, John, Ai-chdeacon of Aber- 
deen ; his poem of ' The Bruce,' 
cxlii. 
Barclay, A. ; his englished Ship of 
Fools, Ixxxv ; his first 3 Eclogues, 
xli ; the appendix to his ' Intro- 
ductory,' clx note. 
Base Dances, clx note. 
Basset, Sir Arthur, 35. 
Bayard, the horse of Renaud de 

Montalban, xx, 
beans, Laneham's license of, 57. 
bearbaiting, 16-17. 
Beauparlar, 40, fine speech, 
belighted, 48. 
Berners, Lord ; his englishing o!' 

Huon of Burdeaus, xvii. 
beseen, 22, clad, apparelled, 
beseeming, 44, appearance, 
bet, perfect of ' beat,' 23, 
Bevys of Hampton, xxii,clxvii,clxxxii. 
(An abstract of this old Romance 
in modern Enghsh prose, has been 
lately publisht by Gilbert and Ran- 
dle, Southampton, for a shilling.) 
biniteez, 54, binities, couples, 
birdcage, the grand one, at Kenil- 
worth, 50. 



bittern, 70. 

bitters, 8, bitterns : ardea stellaris. 
blak Prins, 1, Robert Laneham. 
blaster, 33 ; blasterz, 6, blowers of 

blasts on trumpets, 
blasting, 13, blowing blasts, 
blush, 61, have a red face. 
Boar and the Shepherd, Tale of the, 

lix. 
bob, 25, knock, blow, 
bollz, 8, bowls, 
bolteld, 50. 
bones : ' I am in the bones of him/ 

punch him in the ribs, 59. 
Booke of Foi'tune (not by Sir T. 

Moore), xcv. 
bookish, 61, learned in books. 
Boorde, Andi'ew, probably did not 

write Skogan's Jests, Ixvii ; his 

Breviary of Health, cxxv ; his 

opinion of Scotchmen, ab. 1540 

A.D., clxvii. 
Brain ford, 31, Brentford. 
braiz, 2, 5, a militai-y outwork. 
Brandt, Sebastian ; his Navis Siulti- 

fera, or Ship of Fools, Ixxxvi. 
brangle, a dance, clxii. 
braul, a dance, clxii-xiii. 

Let sum ga drink, and sum ga 
dance ; 

Menstrell, blaw vp ane hrawll of 
France. 

Lyndsay's Satyrs of the thrie 
Estaits, 1. 5623, p. 547, ed. 
E. E. Text Soc. 
brette, la ; a dance-figure, clxii. 
Breviary of Health, Ajidrew Boorde's, 

cxxv. 
Brice, St., 27. 
Bride, the, in the Brideale before 

Elizabeth, 24. 
bridelace of blu buckeram, 21 ; of red 

and yelloo, 23. 
bridge, Leicester's, at Kenil worth, 3, 

65. 
broom instead of rosemary, 21, 23. 
Bruce, the ; by John Barbour, cxlii. 
Bruse sauns pitee. Sir, 34, 71. 
brute, 42, noise, Fr. bruit. 
brydeale, a solem, 20; before Queen 

EUzabeth, 22. 
brydelaces of red and yelloo, 23. 
buff, 25, blow, cut. 
buffon, a dance, clxii-xiii. 
Burleigh, Lord, his pleasure-grounds 

at Theobald's, 49. 



INDEX. 



79 



burt, 8, a young turbot. 

bustard, 70. 

Buthred, 4, 65. 

byas, 25, on the bias, aslant. 



caddiz, 37, worsted. 

Cage, the Bird-, at Kenilwortb, 50. 

cakebread, 41. 

canary-bh'ds, 51. 

cantell, 42, corner. 

canvas doublet for a poor man, 23 ; 
canvas cut, 57. 

caprettiez, 18, capers. 

carrets, 48, carets. 

earring, 24, carrying, taking. 

carroll I vp a song, 60. 

Castle of Ladiez, xliii ; ?the ' Cyte of 
Ladyes,' from Christine de Pise's 
French, clxxvi. Castle of Love, cvi. 

cause of this edition, ix. 

Cecyl, Sir Thomas. 

Ceres, 43, 45. 

ceruleoous, 10, sky-blue. 

chafed, 13, heated. 

chaiBngs, 17, taunts. 

challenge, 16 : the defendant has a 
right to challenge any of the jury 
empanelled to try him, as likely to 
be prejudiced against him, &c. 

chamblet, 38, camlet. 

chapel at Kenilworth, 58, 76, clxxv. 

Chapman of a Peneworth of Wit, 
sketch of, cxvi. 

Charites, 46, the (three) Graces. 

Charles, Komane, 57, Charlemagne, 
Charles the Grreat. 

chase of Kenilworth, 13. 

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, early 
editions of, exxxviii. 

chearm, 42, chirping, talk, murmur. 

cheese, greene, 70. Grene chese is 
not called grene by the reason of 
coloui', but for the newnes of it.' 
A. Boorde, in Bahees Book, p. 
200 ; Breviary, p. 266, ed. 1870. 

cherries, 53, 75. 

Chevalier de la Beaute, eliii. 

child, the downy or woolly, to be 
shown to the Queen, 56. 

chinks, 59. 

Churl and the Burd, Lydgate's, Ivi. 

Cinderella, the Scotch, cxliv. 

circumflexions, 18. 

cittern, 59, 60, 67. 

claret, 8. 



Clary ades and Maliades, the romance 
oi', cxlv. 

classical stories named in The Com- 
playnt of Scotland, xv, cxli, &c. 

clock stood still during Elizabeth's 
visit to Kenilworth, 55. 

Clotho, 47. 

Cobham, Sir Heiu-y, 35. 

' Colle to me the Rysshys grene,' a 
ballad, clii. 

CoUyn Clout vby Skelton), Ixix. 

' Come over the burne, Besse/ clxxxi. 

comparable, 56. 

'Complaynt of Scotland,' 1548-9 
A.D. ; its list of 48 Books and Tales, 
exxxviii ; its list of 38 sweet Songs, 
cslix ; and of 30 Dances and 
Dance-Tunes, clx. 

conchs, 52, mussels. See Bahees 
Book, p. 232. 

Concordia, 46. 

confess and a list, but avoyd a coold 
not, 17. In an action-at-law, when 
a plaintiff has delivered his decla- 
ration of his cause of action against 
the defendant, and the latter has 
answered by a plea, the plaintiif 
may by his replication traverse (or 
wholly deny) the truth of the plea, 
or confess and avoid it "by some 
new matter or distinction con- 
sistent with the plaintiff's former 
declaration. Thus, in an action 
for trespassing upon land whereof 
the plaintiff is possessed, if the de- 
fendant shows a title to the land 
by descent, and that therefore he 
had a right to enter upon the land, 
the plaintiff may either traverse 
atid deny the fact of the descent, or 
he may confess and avoid it, by 
replying, ' that true it is that such 
descent happened, but that since 
the descent the defendant himself 
demised the lands to the plaintiff 
for a term not yet expired.' Kerr's 
Students' BlacJcstone, p. 376, ed. 
1870. 'and a list' means 'if he 
pleazd.' 

Confessional, the Popish ; questions 
for a woman at it, cxxix. 

conserves, 70. 

conster, 61, construe. 

Cooks' Feast in Aldersgate St., 39. 

coolar, 53, cooler, a wetting with 
water. 



80 



INDEX. 



coold, 39, 61, knew. 

coonger, 8, conger. 

coopls, couples, 54. 

cooruez, 25, curves. 

coounteuaunst, 14, lookt and acted. 

eooursiez, 41, curtsies. 

Coplande, Eobert, on Bace Daunees, 

clx note, 
cornet, 7, 19, horn ; described, 66. 
comisli, 50, cornice, 
cornucopia, 40. 
Coventry, 69. 

Coventry Play on Hock Tuesday, 26. 
cought, 13, shut up ; ep. cofTer, area. 
country-time in England, clxxiii. 
courses of the banquet, 33. 
Court, tlie Great, of Keriilworth, 32. 
coounsell, 17, counsel, advocates. 
Cox, Captain, a mason of Coventry, 
xii, 28. 

his books of Storie.xii, xv-lxxvi, 29. 

his books of Philosophy and Poetry, 
xiii, Ixxviii-cxvi, 30. 

his auncient playz, xiii, cxviii-cxxiv, 
30. 

his book of Medicine, xiii, cxxv, 30. 

his Ballets and songs, xiii, cxxviii- 
cxxxi, 30. 

his Almanaks of Antiquitee, xiii, 
cxxxii-cxxxvi, 30. 
crane, 70. 

cream and IsHngton, 74. 
Cressus, the rich man, Tale of, Ixi. 
creuis, 9, crayfish, 
crosses in Abingdon, Coventry, &c., 

69. 
cruell, 37 note, worsted, 
cunning, 60, skill. 

curluz, 8, curlews. Numenius arqiiata. 
currarz, 44, couriers, 
custards, 70. 

custumerz, 45, collectors of customs. 
cut and long tail, 25. 

Dade, John ; his almanacks, cxxxvi. 
dailis, clxvi, barren ewes that are 

fatting. 
Damian, 38. Sts. Cosmo and Damian 

are generally joined together, 
dance-music on Sundays, sii. 
Dances and dance-tunes of Scotland 

in 1548, clx. 
dancing and music on Sunday, 12. 
Danes in England, a play of the, 26. 
Danielz Dreamz, xcv. (? bu-ried at 

Lord Ashburnham's.) 



dead dance, the, clxvi. 

deas, 41, dais. 

defecated, 58, cleared of dregs, 

Denman, Master, a mercer, 62. 

Devil ; his Ten Commandments, Ixxx 

note, 
deuyserz, 45, devisers. 
Dials, the two at Kenilworth Ca-stle, 

54. 
die : ' az clen az a dy,' 40. 
dilmondis, clxvi, wethers above a year 

old. 
dinner, in 1569 a.d., in London, 69. 
Diodorus Siculus, 19. 
displeaz, 12, displays, 
ditty sung before the Queen, 35. 
divine service on Sunday, 20. 
Daedalus and the Minotaur, cxlviii. 
Dolphin, tweuty-fom' foot long, 34. 
Doris, 52. 
Douglas, Bp. Grawin ; his ' Paleis of 

Honour,' cxlvii. 
Dryardes, 14, Dryads, 
dualities discust, 54. 
duddled, 47, muddled, confused, 
dulcets, 61, sweet sayings ? 
Dunbar's ' Goldin Targe,' cxlvii. 

eager, 41, tart. 

ear, 61, ere, before. 

earning, 13, 68, q. v., giving tongue. 

Eastmureland, tale of the king of, 
cxlii. 

Echo on Queen Elizabeth, 15, 46. 

Edict of Pacification, 58, 76. 

Edyth, TheWido ; the story of, xliii. 

Egeir and Gryme, the romance of, 
cxlvi. 

Eglamoour, Syr ; the story of, xxviii. 

Elizabeth, Queen ; her arrival at 
Kenilworth, 5 ; her answer to the 
Lady of the Lake, 7 ; Latin poem 
to, 10 ; rides always alone, 11 ; her 
kind answer when her horse was 
startled, 15 ; gift of 2 bucks to the 
Coventry players, 32 ; makes five 
knights, 35 ; cures 9 persons of the 
king's evil, 35 ; stays 19 days at 
Kenilworth, 43 ; her name means 
Seventh of my God, 43 ; her cha- 
racter, 47-8. See the ' Contents.' 

Elynor Humming, sketch of, Ixxv. 

Emathia, 57. 

Emperor and his Steward's Wife, 
Tale of an, Ixi. 

Emperor and Merlin, Tale of the, Ix. 



INDEX. 



81 



England, ruffs in, in 1583, p. 72. 

English minstrels in Scotland, clxvii. 

English women, the valiantness of, 
against the Danes, 27. 

engyners, 45, engineers. 

Eolus, 34. See Aeolus. 

Esop's Fables, 61. 

estatez, 44, grandees. 

Ethelred, 26. 

etymon, 53, meaning. 

Euan ; the tail of Syr Euan, Artlioui's 
knycht, exliii. 

Euphrosyne, 46. 

eyesight ; ale in the morning is good 
for it, 58. 

eyttyn, cxi, giant : 

" There is another canine appetyde ; 
which is, when a man is euer 
hungry, and is neuer satisfied, nor 
is not well but when he is eatynge 
or drynkynge : ignorant men wyll 
say that such persons hath an eaton 
in the bely." 1547. Andreio 
Boorde's Breuiary of Health, Fol. 
XXV, ed. 1552. 



Faguell, the Lady, xxiv. 

Father murdered by his son, Tale of 
the, lix. 

Faunus, 46. 

fayrhking, 52, fair to see. 

feat, 61, act, business. 

feawtered, 51, shaped ? 

feet, 14, fit, exactly suited. 

fending, 17, warding off. 

Ferrand, erl of Flandris, that mareit 
the deuyl, cxl. 

Ferrers, Master, 71. 

filberdz, 8, filbert. 

Filles a marier, a dance-figure, clxi. 

filly foal, 40, 41. 

fireworks, 18, 12. 

fish in the pool of the fountain, 52. 

Asking, 41, flicking, whisking. 

fiznamy, 17, face. 

flapet, 24, small flap. 

flawnez, 39, flawns, cheese-cakes. 

Flora's gifts to the Queen, 45. 

Floremond of Albanye, cxliv. 

florentines, 70. 

Florilegus, 26, 69, ? Matthew of West- 
minster. 

flutes, 66. 

fohod, 17, foehood, feud. 

for, 22, 41, against, to prevent. 



foreign manufactured goods in Eng- 
land, 28, 29, notes. 

forgrone, 14, grown over, covered. 

forman, 16, foreman of a jury. 

fors : hart of fors, strong deer, 13. 

fountain at Kenilworth, 52. 

foyl, 24, rebuff. 

Frederik of Gene, xxv. 

Frier Kous, the story of, xlvii. 

Frog ballads noticed, clui. 

fruits, raw, served first at dinner in 
1509, p. 70. 

Fryar and the Boy, Ixxiii. 

Fryseadowe, 29, Frisian ? 

fulmieant, 12, lightning and thunder- 
ing. 

furmenty for porage, 39. 

fuskin, 52, a three-pronged spear. 

fyr work, 12, fireworks. See 18. 

galyard, a dance, clxii. 

gambaud, 18, gambol, tumbling-trick. 

garden of Kenilworth, 48 j is Para- 
dise, 53, 75. 

Gargantua, 1. 

Gascoigne, G., 74. 

Gauen and Gollogras, cxliv, xxxiv. 

Gawyn, Syr, a Jeste of, xxxiv. 

geazon, 21, scarce, A. Sax. gcBsen. 

geen, 41, given. 

Genius loci, 46. 

gentlewomen, Laneham always with 
when he can be, 59. 

German soldier on the Khine, clxxiii. 

Gesnerus, Conrad, his Mithridates 
quoted, 19. 

Giantis that eit quyk men, the tayl of, 
cxli. 

gingerbread, 70. 

gittern, 59, 60, 68. 

gloit, 60, gloat, look tenderly. 

Goddesses and Nymphs, a device of, 
36, 71. 

godwitz, 8, godwits. 

Golden apple, the tale of the, cxlviii. 

Golding, Arthur, on sports on Sun- 
day, 68. 

Goldingham, master Henry, 31, 71. 

gorget, 37, narrow collar. 

Gorriere, la, a dance-figure, clxii note. 

gracify, 61, adorn, set off, show off. 

gracified, 50, beautified. 

Grafton, 56. 

graueld, 8, gravelled. 

green ginger, 70. 

Grees, 57, Greece. 

G 



INDEX. 



* Grevus ys my sorowe,' clvi. 
Grreyhound and child, tale of the, lis. 
' Gvj of Warwick ' not in Capt. Cox's 

list, xiv. 
gylmyrs, clxvi, ewes two years old. 
gyrings, 18, circlinga. 

Hamadryades, 14. 

handkercher, 24, handkerchief. 

handkerchief, the Bridegroom's, 22. 

Harlaw, the Battle of, cliv. 

harp described, 66. 

harpsicalls, 67. 

harroing, 13, giving tongue, a kind of 

barkuig. 
hart of fors, 16. 
hart hunted, 13, 16, 33. 
hascardy, 4, bad conduct, 
hautboiz, 7, hautboys, 
hearsheawz, 8, heronshaws, herons : 

Common Heron, ardea cinerea. 
hees, 52, males, men. 
heighes, 60, heigh-hos ! sighs, 
hemistichi, 40, hemistich, half-verse, 

as a motto. 
Ilengist and Horsa, 3. 
Henry VIII's 'Pastyme with good 

companye,' cslix ; his Robin-Hood 

games, liv; his first Progress, 

clxxiv ; his surveyors' report on 

Kenilworth, 62. 
Hercules and the serpent Hydra, tale 

of, cxlii, clxxxii. 
hernshoe, 70, heronshaw, heron, 
berried, 41, cried ? 
hewing, 13, shouting, calling. 
Hikskorner, cxix. 
Hippocrates and his Nephew, Tale of, 

Ixi. 
hizzen, 15, his, his belongings. 
ho, 45, halt, stop. 
Hock Tuesday, the Play on, by the 

Coventry men, 26. 
Holborne, Anthony, 67. 
Holy-Eood day, 39, 74, Sept. 14. 
Sombre Saluagio, the savage Man, 

14. 
hoouge, 55, huge, 
hornspoons, 39. 

hornware, 40, things made of horn, 
hoves, Dutch, 61. 
Howard, Sir George, 59. 
Howleglas, xlviii. 
hukes, 41, 74, cloaks. 
Huna, 27. 
Hunnis, Master, 71. 



Huntis up, a tune and ballad, clxiii. 

Hunttis of Cheuet, civ. 

Huon of Burdeaus, the story of, xvii. 

huque, 74, cloak. 

Husband out of doors. Tale of the, lix. 

Huth, Mr. Hy., his unique French 

Arthurian romance, xv ; his copy 

of ' The Cyte of Ladyes,' clxxvii ; 

his copy of Lucres and Eurialus, 

xxxviii. 

Ichington, Long. 5, 56. 

Hand, the happy, 19. 

imminens, 55, wondrous, great. 

Impacient Poverty, a play, cxxiv. 

' In a glorius garden grene,' clix. 

inch : ' wait at an inch,' close by, 59. 

incurvation, 66. 

inkorn, 22, 24, inkhorn. 

Irish-harp, 67. 

Isenbras, Syr, the story of, xxxiii. 

island, the floating, 6-7. 

Islington, arms of, 38. 

Islington, 74. 

Italian tumbler or acrobat, 18. 

Jason and the Golden Fleece, cxlviii. 
Jennen (Genoa), Frederyke of, xxv. 
jewels, sham, 51. 
John Armstrong's Dance, clxv. 
'Jolly and dry,' 58, very thirsty. 
Jove, 47. 

iument, 25, stallion, 
iump, 55, exactly. 
Juno, 44. 

Jupiter and lo, the tale of, clxviii. 
Jupiter's welcome to Queen Elizabeth, 
12 ; his care for her, 43. 

karuell, 13, a small undeckt ship. 
Kay, Sir, Seneschal of King Ai'thm*, 

42. 
kebbis, ewes whose lambs have died 

soon, clxvi. 
keepar, 37, brooch, 
kemb, 37, combed. 
Kenelm, St., 3, 20. 
KenUworth Castle described, 1 ; its 

history, 3 ; the derivation of its 

name, 4 ; its beauty, 48 ; report of 

Henry VIII's surveyors on, 63 ; Mr. 

Knowles's notes on, clxxiv. 
Kenulph, 3. 

King and the Tanner, xlvi. 
King that didn't know his own Wife, 

Ixii. 



INDKX. 



83 



king's evil, nine persons cured of, by 
Queen Elizabeth, 35. See p. 71. 

Knight of Courtesy, and the Lady 
Faguell, xxiv. 

Knowles, E. H., ix ; on Eenilworth, 
clxxiv. 

ku, 41, cue. 

laborers, 43. 

Lachesis, 47. 

Lady of the Late, the, 6, 65. 

Laet of Antwerp, almanacks by, 

cxxxii. 
lampreys have no backbone, 20. 
Lam well, Syr, xxx. 
Lancelot du lac, cxliv. 
Laneham, Robert ; his character, x, 

xi, — see the references there ; — 

Leicester's kindness to, 57-8 ; is ' a 

Mercer, a Merchant,' 58 ; knows 

'langagez,' 59. 
lanuginoous, 56, covered with down 

or wool. 
Latimer on ' Pastime with good Com- 
pany,' (Henry YIII's ballad) cl. 
launsknights, 31, lanzknechts. 
laymen's complaints of Prelates, Ixx. 
leag, 34, liege, 
leamz, 12, liglits, flames. 
Leander and Hero, the tail of the 

amours of, cxlvii. 
leather, 17, skin. 
Leicester, Earl of; his character, 

47-8, 56-8. 
' Leicester's Buildings' at Kenilworth, 

75. 
lemmanz, 8, lemons. 
Leslye, Sir Walter, clxiv. 
' Levis grene,' a tune, cl. 
Leycester, Sir Philip ; his account of 

musical instruments in England in 

1656 A.D., p. 65. 
Lichfield, 44. 
likesome, 56. 
Little John, Hi. 
liuery, 58, allowance of food, 
lobster, 70. 
lokhole, 59, lockhole. 
London, a dinner in, in 1569, p. 69. 
London goods fashionable in the 

country, 28 note. 
loober woorts, 23, lubbers. 
Lord President's chamber, 58. 
Lucres and Eurialus, xxxviii. 
Luna's gifts to Queen EHzabeth, 45. 
hite described, 66. 



Lydgate's Churl and the Burd, Ivi. 
lythie, 19, lithe, bendable. 
lyuery, 8, in which the 'livery,' or 
allowance, was served. 

magnifyk, 55, magnificent. 

Magpie and the Merchant's Wife, 

Tale of the, Ix. 
Mair, 28, Mayor. 
Maleore, Sir T., his conception (after 

his French originals) of Arthur, 

xvi. 
mallys, 17, malice. 
Mamzey, 61, Malmsey wine. 
Mandeville, the Marvels of, cxlv. 
manchet, 58, cake or loaf of fine bread, 
mannage, 57, perform caracoles, ride 

(for ' walk ') . 
MantribU, the tayl of the Brig of, 

cxliii. 
Marchlond or Mercia, 3. 
marchpane, 70. 
marmalade, 70. 

Mars's present to Q. Elizabeth, 9, 44. 
Martial quoted, 57. 
mashez, 51, meslies. 
Mask not perfoi'med, 33. 
Mawdmarion, 23, Maid Marian. 
Mercury, 45. 

Mermaid, the swimming, 33. 
Midas and his ass's ears, cxlviii. 
Middleton, 44, 75. 
Millan, the seige of, cxliii. 
Millen cappes, 29 note. 
Millener, 29 note, dealer in Milan 

goods, 
minion, 22, clownish fellow. 
Minstrel, the Ancient, 36. 
minstrel of Middlesex, 38. 
Misterz , 60, Mistress , Lane- 
ham's love, 
moolding, 50. 
More, Sir Thomas ; his ' Sergeaunt,' 

Ixvi ; his preface to the ' Booke of 

Fortune,' xcv. 
Morels skin. Wife lapt in a, Ixv. 
morisdauns, 22, a morris dance. 
muiBer used as a handkerchief, 22, 24. 
mullet, 8. 
Murderous Knight and his Wife, Tale 

of a, Ixi. 
music on the water, 16. 
Muzik iz a noble Art ! 35. 

Naiades, the, 40. 

napkin, 22, handkerchief, 24, 41. 



84 



INDEX. 



nees, 43, niece. 

Neptune, 45, 52. 

Neptune's presents to Queen Eliza- 
beth, 9, 45. 

nippitate, 31, 69, a kind of strong ale. 

nobled, 58, made noble. 

nose-blowing, 24. 

Nosingham, 62, ? Nottingham pai'O- 
died. 

Nostradamus, almanacts by, cxxxv. 

Nu Gize (or the new Guise), sketch 
of the play, cxxii. 

nuellries, 47, novelties. 

Nutbrooun Maid, sketcli of, Ixxvi. 

nuze, 44', news. 

nyez, 17, 68, eyes. 

'O lusty maye, vitht Flora queue,' cliv 

obelisks, 49. 

obrayds, 17, upbraidings. 

occupied, 1, carried on. 

Og's bedstead, 56. 

oken, 14, of oak. 

Old wise man who bleeds his naughty 

wife, tale of the, Ix. 
Olyver of the CastI, the story of, 

xxxvii, clxxvii. 
omberty, 30, shadowing, indication, 
one and onehood, 53. 
'one hart, one wey,' Bacon's motto, 

51. 
oneself, writing about, xi. 
Opheus, kyng of Portingal, the tale 

of, cxlviii. 
oringes, 8, oranges, 
orpharion, 67. 
ouchez, 44, 29. 
overseen, 30, well-read, 
oversod, 39, over-boiled, 
overstrained, 51, strained, stretcht, 

over. 
Ovid quoted, 57. 
owches, 29, 44, ornaments. 

Pacification, the Edict of, 58, 76. 

pall, 5, cloak or mantle. 

pannell, 16. ' It is an English word, 
and signifieth a little Part ; for a 
Pane is a part, and a Fannel a little 
part (as a Pannel of wainscot, a 
Pannel of a saddle, and a Pannel of 
a Parchment, wherein the Jurors 
names are written and annexed to 
the writ :) and a Jury is said to be 
im-pannelled when the Sheriff hatli 
entred their names into the Pannel, 



or little piece of Parchment, in Pan- 

nello assiscB. Cook on Lit. Lib. 2. 

c. 2. Sect. 234." The Law-French 

Dictionary &e, 1701. 
pannell, 21, a substitute for a saddle ; 

40, 41, pack, kind of saddle. See 

last article. 
Paradise, the Ken il worth Garden 

worthy to be called, 53. 
Parcffi, 46, the Fates, 
parcell, 23, partly, 
parklike, 63. 
pars, 61, parse, 
parson, 9, 34, person, 
parsonage, 14, appearance, 
pavvan, a dance, clxii. The Pavan 

etc. are described in MS. Rawl. 

Poet. lOS. 
peacock, 70. 
pears the first dish at dinner in 1569, 

p. 70. 
pecteale, ? what bird, 70. 
penclark, 56, writer. 
Penda, King, 3, 65. 
penners, 29, pen-cases. 
Perseus and Andi-omeda, the tale of, 

cxli. 
Pharos, the Egiptian, 48. 
pheasant pout, 70. 
Phoebus, 44. 

Phcebus's presents to Q. Elizabeth, 9. 
piglite, 56, jDitcht, set up. 
pikquarrels, 44, pickers of quarrels, 
pild, 39, ? spoilt, adulterated. 
Pinner, Master, one of Elizabeth's 

household, 59. 
Pirramus and Tesbe, the tayl of, 

cxlvii. 
Pius II, Pope, xxxviii, xli. 
plat, 55, plan, design, 
play acted before the Q,ueen, 32. 
pleaze, 10, pleasure, 
plover, right, and base, 70. 
Plutus's gifts to the Queen, 45. 
poezi, 5, bit of poetry, 
point, 21, end of a lace, 
pointed stones, 51. 
poking-stick, 73. 
PoUez, 61, St. Paul's school. 
Polyphemus's gifts to Q. Elizabeth, 46. 
pool of 111 acres of water, at Kenil- 

worth Castle, 63. 
porphyry, sham, 50, 75. 
porpoise for dinner in 1569, p. 70 

(see Pahees Boole Index). 
Porter, Lord Leicester's big one, 5. 



INDEX. 



85 



poungarnets, 8, pomegranates. 

poynets, 38, wrist-bands. 

Preachers against Plays, 27» 

priar, 59, pryer. 

proez, 15, prose. 

proining, 51, preening. 

Protheus, 52. 

Protheus's gifts to Queen Elizabeth, 

46. 
Proud Wives Paternoster, sketch of, 

cxiv. 
prunes at dinner, 70. 
psithyrists, the best, in England, 

1656 A.D., p. 67 note. 
Psittyrne, the, 67. 
puke, French, 37 note. 
PuUison, Alderman, 61. 
purchaz, 32, gain, getting, 
putter, or putting stick, for ruffs, 73. 
puyt, 70, peewit, 
puzels, 23, damsels (ironically), 
pyept, 45, piped, drunk, 
pynz, 56, tent-pegs. 
pyramidally, 50. 

quarrelling, none at Kenilworth, 46. 

queast, 16, jury of twelve. 

quik, 16, alive. 

quintine, 21, 24, quintain. 

rabato, 73. 

Eabelais's Gargantua, li. 

I'agged-staff, Leicester's badge, as a 
Warwick, 9, 52. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, his pleasure- 
grounds, 49. 

Rauf colljear (or Ralph the Collier), 
cxliii. 

rayle, 70, rail, landrail, the bird, 70. 

receyt, 52, pool, basin. 

recoi'der, 9, a musical instrument, 66. 

red deer, 2, 70. 

redolent, 50, sweet-smelling. 

Eeformation, the, crusht ballads in 
Scotland, clxvii. 

releef, 17, content, pleasure. 

releef, 57, pension ? 

vespiraunt, 50, fit for breathing. 

Reyde Eyttyn vitht the thre heydis, 
the taiyl of, cxl. 

Rohene Hude, a dance-tune, clxiii. 

Robert le dyabil, due of Normandie, 
cxxxviii. 

Robert, the Ryng of tlie Roy, cxlvi. 

Robin Hood, li ; the Play of, liii. 

Robin Hood, clxiv. 



Robin Hood and Little John, cxlv. 

Robinson, Thomas, 67. 

rok, 47, 75, distaff. 

Roman, 10, Roman letters. 

Rome, the Seven Wise Masters of, Iv. 

Rouen : le petit rouen, a dance-figure, 

clxi. 
Royne, la ; a dance-figure, clxii. 
ruffs, 72. 

Rumbelo fayr, clvi. 
Rush, Friar, the story of, xlvii. 
rut, 31, time of heat or copulation. 
Ryens, King, of Northgalez, 42. 

sacietee, 33, satiety. 

sack and sugar, 61. 

sackbut described, 66. 

Saint Anthonj's School, 61. 

Sak full of Nuez, Ixvi. 

salmon, 70. 

salsipotent, 33, ruling the salt seas. 

Saturn's care for Queen Ehzabeth, 63. 

Savage man, the, 46. 

scoolation, 22, schooling, teaching. 

Scotch Acts against pipers and min- 
strels, clxvii. 

Scotch editors of Ballads, clxxii. 

Scotch tales in 1548, cxxxviii ; sweet 
songs then, cxHx ; dances and 
dance-tunes, clx. 

seal for dinner in 1569, p. 70. See 
Bahees Book Index. 

Seargeaunt that became a Fryar, Ixvi. 

Seauen Sororz of Wemen, cxiv. 

Seaven Wise Masters, Iv. 

Securis, John, of Salisbury; alma- 
nacks by, cxxxvi. 

sellars all caried vpon pillars, 63. * A 
solar (Garret, or upper Room) So- 
larium, Sollarium.^ Law French 
Diet. 1701. 

* Set my hors vp too the rak, & then 
lets haue a cup of Sak,' 62. 

setting stick for ruffs, 73. 

Seventh of my God = Elizabeth, 43. 

shalm, 7, 9. 

shalme described, 66. 

shees, 53, females, women, 

Sheffield knives, 37, 38, 74. 

Shepherdz Kalender, Ixxviii. 

Ship of Foolz (by Alexander Barklay, 
from Seb. Brandt's Latin), Ixxxv. 

Shirburne Castle, Dorset, the plea- 
sure-grounds at, 49. 

shoing-horn, shinuig as a, 38. 

shoouelarz, 8, shovellers. Anas cly- 



86 



INDEX. 



peata: see Babees Book, p. 153, 

214. 
shoveller, 70. 
Sibyl, a, 5. 
side, 10, long. 

side, 37, syde, 38, long and wide. 
Sidney, Lady, 59. 
sizely, 33, according to size. 
Skail Gillenderson, cxliii. 
slcaled, 34, ran away, dispersed. 
Skelton's Colyn Clout, Ixix j Sli/noiir 

Humming, Ixxv. 
skiphs, 13, skiffs. 
Skogan's Jests, Ixvii. 
skratting, 17, scratching, 
skro, 11, 40, scroll, 
sleeked, 37, made sleek, 
smally, 33, httle. 
Smith, Master, eustumer, 61. 
soil: take soil, take to the water, 13, 

16. 
soily, 40. 
soil, 47, 48, soul, 
soomersauts, 18, somersaults, 
sooui'ged, 12, surged, 
sospires, 60, sighs. 
Soutra, a dance-tune, clxiv. 
soyl, 33, water, 
spieecakes, 23. 
squib or squirt, 72. 
Squyre of Lo Degree, xxiii. 
Stafford, W. ; his < English Pollicye ' 

quoted, 28, note. 
stag's ears cut off, 16. 
stampine, 70, ? what bird. 
Stanhope, Sir Thomas, 35. 
starching houses for ruff's, 72. 
steeuen, 41, voice. 
Steill, Deine David ; his ' Eeign of 

the Roy liobert,' cxlvi. 
stent, ? what bird, 70. 
stetting-stiek, 37, and note. But see 73. 
' Stil vndir the leyuis grene ' or The 

Murning Maidin, cl. 
stockard, 70, ? what bird, 
stonetiuet, the bird, 70. 
stoour, 42, stour, battle, 
story-books, lists of, xii, xiv. 
strawberries, 53, 75. 
strawn, 22, made of straw, 
stringed musical instruments in Eng- 
land, 1656 A.D., p. 66. 
Slubbes on bear-baiting, 18 ; football, 

22 ; ruffs, 
sturgeon, 52. See Bahees Boole, p. 

238. 



stni'geon for dinner, 70. 

sucket, 23, 70, sweetmeat. 

sugar plate, 70. 

Sunday amusements at Kenilworth, 

12. 
Sunday dancing, 12, 68. 
supportasse, 73. 
surfit, 59, surfeited, 
swymd, 34, swam. 
Sylvanus's present to Queen Elizabeth, 

8, 46. 
Sylvanus, 74. 
syluerd, 8, silvered, 
symmetrically, 50. 
Systirs, the thre veird, the tail of, 

cxlviii. 

tabid stones, 51. 

tag and rag, 25. 

Tamlene, ^oug, and the bald Braband, 
the tale of the, cxlv. 

Tanterveale, 70, ? what bird. 

taperwise, 6. 

tarts, 70. 

teal, 70. 

temperd, 41, tuned. 

tenny, 39, tawny. 

Tennyson's conception of Arthur, xvi. 

tent, the large one for Queen Eliza- 
beth, 5 note, 56. 

Terence quoted, 57, 61. 

terrace at Kenilworth, 48, 75. 

Thalia, 46. 

' That day, that day, that gentil day,' 
clix. 

' The murning Maidin,' a poem, cl. 

'The Perssee and the Mongumrye 
met,' clviii. 

theorbo, 66. 

Thetis, 52. 

Thorn of Lyn, a dance-tune, clxiv. 

Thorogood, Master, 62. 

thread-making, 28 note, 

three, on, 54. 

thre-futtit dog of Norronay, the tala 
of, cxlii. 

threcden, 38, made of thread. 

tine, 9, short prick or prong. 

titubate, 24, s( umble. 

ton, 13, one ; 82, tlie one. 

tonster, 37, dipt round. 

tonsword, 29, 31. 

tooz, 54, twos. 

trade, 61, dealing, course of life. 

traded, 61, carried-on. 

transom, 50. 



INDEX. 



87 



trauera, 17, traverse, answer by denial, 
treen, 'Zi, of tree or wood. 
Tresham, Sir Thomas, 35. 
tridental, 52, three-toothed or 

-pronged, 
trink, 37, trick, fashion. 
Triton, 33, 52. 
truelove, 38, truelover's knot, like a 

qnatrefoil. 
trumpeters, Leicester's, 6. 
trust, 21, fastened. 
Tryamoour, Syr, the story of, sxix. 
turbot, 70. 

turdion, a dance, clxii-iii, 
turkicock, 70. 

Two Dreams, The Tale of, Ixii. 
two o'clock, the hands of tlie Kenil- 

worth dials always pointed to, 55. 
twynkling, 61, tinkling ? 
Tyltyard at Kenilworth, 5, 20. 
Tynt, the tail of the pure, cxliv. 

uuderspringing, 53. 

'Undo your Dore,' or the Squire of 

low Degree, xxiii. 
Ungrateful "Widow, Tale of the, Ixii. 
vplondish, 46, far from London. 

venison (dead fallow deer), warrants 

for, 70. 
Venetian sleeves, 10. 
Venus, 44. 
viole, 67. 
violin, 67. 
vioU, 9, viol. 
Virgil quoted, 58, 61. 
Virgil's Life (the magician's), xli. 
Virgilius and his Images, Tale of, Ixi. 
virginals, 60. 
Volfe (or Well) of the Varldis End, 

cxl. 
Volunteers, Rifle, clxxiii. 
Vulcan, 44, 52. 
vyse, 55, 76, pale blue. 

Wager, W. ; extract on ballads from 
his 'The Longer thou liuest, the 
more foole thou art,' cxxvii. 

Wallace, the poem of, cxli. 

vrardens (a kind of apple) stewed, 70. 



Warren and De Tabley, Lord, 65. 

Warwick, badge of tlie Earls of, 49. 

Warwick, the town, 2. 

Warwick, musters of, in 1574-5, p. 69. 

wastell, 42, fine bread. 

Watson, Henry ; his englished ' Ship 
of Fools,' Ixxxv, xci. 

wealks, 52, whelks. (See Babees Booh 
index.) 

weather (wetlier), the big, to be shown, 
to the Queen, 56. 

Wedgenall, 36, Wedgnock Park. 

Welsh-harp, 67. 

whii'lpoolz, 52, ? the halena of " The 
Noble Lyfe," Babees Book, p. 232. 
That it was a sort of whale, see 
'Tinet: m. The Wh all tearmed a 
Horlepoole or Whirlepoole. Cot- 
grave,' cited in B. B. index, p. 129. 
' The Whirle poole, a sea monster ; 
Sedenette, pliyeterre, horepole, mu- 
lasse, tinet; Un pesce mostroso 
del mare ; Pece monstruoso marina.' 
Howel. 

Wieland's Oberon, xvii. 

Wife lapt in a Morel's Skin, Ixiv. 

wigeon, 70. 

wight, 22, quick, active. 

William of Malmesbury, 61 . 

wine, spiced, 70. 

wizehardy, 44, the opposite of fool- 
hardy, wisely brave. 

Women, the Seven Sorrows of, cxiv. 

woorship, 36, honour. 

Worcester, 44. 

Worceter, 62, Worcester. 

■worth, the meaning of, 4. 

wrcast, 38, 41, tuning hammer. 

wreast, 53, twist, turn. 

wyndlesse, 53, 55, 75, driving of deer, 
excursus, digression. 

Wynkyn de • Worde on La Morte 
Darthur, xvi. 

wype, 70, lapwing. 

yeald, 49, yelled. 

Yooth and Charitee, sketch of, cxviii. 

yorne, 68, whine. 

Ypocras and Galienus, Ixi. 

Ypomedon, the romance of, cxiii. 



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